Rachel Riley "The Gadget Show," although her profile was significantly boosted by her appearance as a contestant on "Strictly Come Dancing", which largely "catapulted [Riley] onto the A-list" and opened up the doors for new television roles, according to another commentator. In 2014, two years before her role on "It's Not Rocket Science", she said, "I'd love to present a popular science programme because it's something I feel very passionate about." On "Countdown", Riley replaced the long-serving Carol Vorderman. Like Vorderman, Riley's role is to handle the placement of tiles on the board for the letters and numbers rounds and to find
Rachel Riley on 2 January 2012, Riley has also performed her "Countdown" role on the comedy crossover spin-off version, "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown", alongside comedian Jimmy Carr as host. While "Countdown" is seen as a straight light entertainment show, in explaining the difference between the two, Riley sees "Countdown" as the role she is happy for her grandmother to see, while "Cats Does Countdown" is the more risqué, cheeky, role which she shows to her friends. Some of the running gags used on the show are made by Carr at Riley's expense, aimed at her lack of dancing ability