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Season 2, Episode 1
Adil Ray hosts the game of words as Countdown's Rachel Riley and radio host Richie Anderson take on screen stars Lesley Joseph and Claire Sweeney in a battle to win big money for charity
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16x9
Game Show/Quiz/Contest
Show/Game Show
Cast & Crew
Adil Ray
(Presenter)
Rachel Riley
(Contestant)
Richie Anderson
(Contestant)
Lesley Joseph
(Contestant)
Claire Sweeney
(Contestant)
More Information
Did You Know..
Adil Ray
(Presenter)
Born:
April 26, 1974
in
Birmingham
Best Known For:
Citizen Khan and being a radio host.
Early-life:
Adil was born in Birmingham on April 26, 1974 to a Pakistani father and Kenyan mother. His father worked as a bus driver for almost 40 years, his mother worked for the Civil Service. His parents divorced when he was in his mid teens. Adil went on to study marketing at the University of Huddersfield. During his time at university, he worked as a host on a small Asian radio station in Birmingham before moving on to Choice FM. Other radio work followed at Galaxy 105, Century Radio, Aire FM Leeds and Ministry of Sound Radio.
Career:
In 2002, Ray joined the BBC Asian Network to present the late night Adil Ray Show. He presented other slots on the station before leaving in June 2010. He has since been a regular on BBC Radio 5 Live. Since 2012, he has co-written and starred in the BBC sitcom Citizen Khan. He has also presented Desi DNA and Inside Out. In 2015, he guest presented three episodes of The One Show.
Quote:
'It doesn't matter what religion you are or what background, we all have the same problems, highs and lows.'
Trivia:
As a keen cricketer, Ray represented West Bromwich Dartmouth during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He supports Aston Villa FC.
Rachel Riley
(Contestant)
Born:
January 11, 1986
in
Rochford, Essex
Best Known For:
Countdown.
Early-life:
Rachel Annabelle Riley was born in Rochford, Essex, on January 11, 1986. She studied mathematics at Oriel College, Oxford.
Career:
Riley's big break came in 2008 when she was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants to replace Carol Vorderman on Countdown. She presented her first show alongside Jeff Stelling in January 2009, and reached her 1,000th episode in June 2013. Away from the numbers and letters on Countdown, she began co-hosting The Gadget Show alongside Jason Bradbury in June 2013. She was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated.
Quote:
'I don't want girls to aspire to being famous for the sake of being famous. If I was only known for wearing a dress, that wouldn't have any value for me.'
Trivia:
Riley won £36,000 for charity on a celebrity edition of The Bank Job. She supports Manchester United.
Richie Anderson
(Contestant)
Lesley Joseph
(Contestant)
Born:
October 14, 1945
in
London
Best Known For:
Birds of a Feather.
Early-life:
Lesley Diana Joseph was born in London on October 14, 1945 and grew up in Northampton. At the age of seven, she made her stage debut in Hansel and Gretel at the New Theatre in Northampton. After training to be an actor at Lamda, she spent several years playing an assortment of roles at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter.
Career:
Joseph made her TV debut in a 1974 episode of Wendy Craig-fronted sitcom And Mother Makes Five. She went on to make appearances in Sadie, It's Cold Outside, The Knowledge and Minder. Her big break came in 1989 when she was cast as man-eater Dorien Green in popular sitcom Birds of a Feather. It ran on the BBC until 1998 but it returned in 2012 as a stage version. The interest generated by the stage version led to ITV commissioning a new series which began airing in January 2014. Away from Birds of a Feather, Joseph has also starred in ITV soap Night and Day, appeared in a number of pantomimes, been a regular guest on Loose Women and co-hosted a radio show on BBC London 94.9 with Christopher Biggins. In 2015, she was a contestant on ITV's celebrity sheepdog trials programme Flockstars.
Quote:
'Some people say there are fewer parts for older actresses, but it doesn't seem that way at the moment. I think there has been a renaissance for older women.'
Trivia:
Joseph supports Tottenham Hotspur.
Claire Sweeney
(Contestant)
Born:
April 17, 1971
in
Liverpool
Best Known For:
Playing Lindsey Corkhill on Brookside.
Early-life:
Born in Walton, Liverpool in 1971, Claire developed a love of music and drama at a young age. When she was 11, her mum sent to the Elliott-Clarke Stage School in Liverpool, mainly because she had bad memories of attending the local comprehensive, which strengthened Claire's ambition to be a performer. At 18, she won a place at the prestigious Italia Conti School in London, and in 1991 made a brief appearance as Lindsey on Brookside, before leaving to concentrate on her singing career.
Career:
Claire spent four years singing on cruise ships, and when she got back to dry land in 1995, decided to get in touch with the Brookside producers to see if they would be interested in bringing her character back. As luck would have it, they were working on a storyline involving Lindsey, and she got the role. Claire stayed with the soap until 2003, but her profile received a further boost when she came second in the first series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2001. Since then, she has acted in the series Clocking Off and Merseybeat, released an album and performed extensively on stage in musicals including Chicago, Guys and Dolls, and Fosse. She's also competed in Strictly Come Dancing, and worked as a presenter on shows including Here Comes the Sun, Challenge of a Lifetime and 60 Minute Makeover.
Quote:
'It's funny how it's all worked out. I just see myself as a working actress - I do shows, I do bits for the telly and I really don't analyse it.'
Trivia:
She co-wrote the comedy musical Sex and the Suburbs. It was staged in 2014.
