AS an Oxford University maths graduate who has blonde hair and hails from Essex, Rachel Riley knows only too well what it’s like to be underestimated.
“When I was younger, people would be surprised when I said I was studying at Oxford,” she says.
“I was known as a ‘blonde Essex Girl – but it’s not always a bad thing, because you can use it to your advantage and surprise people in a positive way.
“It says more about them for having those misconceptions in the first place.
“I think it’s really important to show you can be blonde, wear make-up and whatever clothes you want and also be a mathematician or scientist.
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“You don’t have to fit an outdated stereotype.”
It’s a lesson that Countdown’s resident maths genius Rachel, 37, is keen to pass on to her daughters Maven, three, and 18-month-old Noa, who she shares with husband Pasha Kovalev, 43, the Strictly Come Dancing pro she was paired with while competing on the show 10 years ago.
They got together in 2014, shortly after Rachel separated from her first husband, millionaire Jamie Gilbert.
In the early stages of the relationship, however, Pasha was insistent that he didn’t want to be a dad.
“He said he was a lone wolf and definitely didn’t want children. But loads of my friends started having babies… Then, we were on holiday and decided we’d run out of places we wanted to travel to, so it was a case of: ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!’ Let’s have some children!” says Rachel.
“And seeing that nurturing side of Pasha with the girls is so cute.
“We’re both really enjoying being parents.”
Their household expanded further last summer when Rachel and Pasha, who is Russian, took in four Ukrainian refugees.
The war is deeply personal to Rachel and Pasha – along with many other Russians, his brother was forced to flee his country to avoid being conscripted, and is currently living in exile in Turkey.
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The refugees – a woman, her young son, aunt and mother – shared the couple’s London home for more than a year, before recently returning to Ukraine to try to rebuild their lives.
“The girls loved it,” says Rachel.
“It was like having loads of extra aunts, and the eight year old was like a big brother to them.
“They were from occupied territories in the east so they can’t return home, but they’re going to try and settle in western Ukraine.
"Life has been so hard for them here doing cleaning jobs, travelling across London on the bus and without the language skills to give themselves the comfortable life they had back home.
“They have family fighting, which puts into perspective how lucky we are.”
I think it’s really important to show you can be blonde, wear make-up and whatever clothes you want and also be a mathematician or scientist. You don’t have to fit an outdated stereotype.
Rachel Riley
It’s not the first time Rachel, who is Jewish, has taken action for causes close to home.
After calling out the Labour party and its then-leader Jeremy Corbyn for antisemitism in 2018, she found herself on the receiving end of troll attacks, including death threats, after which she was given extra security at Countdown’s Manchester studios.
It’s clear how bruising the whole experience was for her, as she visibly shakes when talking about it.
“I think part of my personality must be argumentative,” she says, half-joking.
“For me, it was incredibly personal.
“I did loads of research before speaking out, because I didn’t want to wade into something I didn’t know enough about.
"But I was also brought up knowing what happens when good people say nothing, so it was something I needed to do.”
Rachel has since started working with the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) to campaign for better protection for social media users, and was awarded an MBE for helping raise awareness of the Holocaust and combating antisemitism earlier this month.
Guided by the CCDH, she uses the “block” button more liberally on social media, rather than challenging online abuse directly.
“They target you because they want you to retweet and say: ‘Look at this person, isn’t this awful?’ because it grows their following,” says Rachel.
“We don’t have to listen to this stuff.
“I don’t see anything like as much of it as I used to, which is good, because it was like a swamp.
“I can ‘bigger picture’ it now without having to get in the mud with the pigs.”
She says, for a time, her social media was so toxic it became “unusable”, but she will continue to stand up – Rachel has also spoken in support of JK Rowling, who has come under attack from trans activists for her stance on women’s rights.
“You have to fight for your freedoms and speak out,” she says.
I was brought up knowing what happens when good people say nothing.
Rachel Riley
“Be aware of rights being eroded incrementally – we have to be vigilant.
“I want to bring up my girls to be strong, vocal women and they definitely are so far – they’re going to be trouble!”
Pasha has been by Rachel’s side throughout the ordeal of the last few years.
The pair recently celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary, having married in Las Vegas while she was pregnant with Maven.
In typical Vegas style, the budget ceremony was fairly spontaneous – they decided to do it just a few days before their trip to the States, and only told their families once it was signed, sealed and delivered.
“We’d had a couple of days in New York before flying to Vegas.
“As we got on the plane to Vegas, my mum sent me a jokey message saying: ‘Have a good flight. If you get married there, I’ll come back and haunt you!’
“But we’d already bought the dress — it was a brilliant day, such a lot of fun.”
The pair are heading for dinner after today’s photo shoot – a rare date night, which Rachel says won’t be a late one, not with the 5am starts Noa is so fond of at the moment.
Sleep often revolves around their youngest daughter, as Rachel is breastfeeding and has no plans to stop yet.
“For me, it’s just easier. It gets her back to sleep, it’s healthy and she’s happy. It feels normal. I find it weird when places have signs saying: ‘Breastfeeding welcome’. I don’t need a sign – I’ll breastfeed anywhere!”
She adds: “At one point I was feeding both girls, one on each boob, as I didn’t want to kick Maven off when Noa arrived and for her to feel resentful.
“So that was interesting! When they were little, they could come to the TV studio and I could feed them between shows. I was lucky.”
Countdown has been Rachel’s “home” for nearly 15 years, but she ended up on the telly almost by accident after her mum noticed that Channel 4 was recruiting to replace numbers whizz Carol Vorderman.
Rachel had just graduated and applied on a whim, never expecting to get the job and knowing she had her degree to fall back on if it didn’t work out.
Social media was so toxic it became 'unusable'.
Rachel Riley
Over the years, she’s hosted alongside several anchors, including Jeff Stelling and Nick Hewer – and former Radio 1 presenter Colin Murray since he joined last July.
“Colin is so competitive.
“He plays every single round and dissects it all with the contestants.
“He’s a massive nerd and makes me and Susie [Dent in Dictionary Corner] look really cool!
"But he brings so much enthusiasm and he’s very quick with a pun or references to bands or lyrics, which he’ll weave into his next link.
“It’s fun and everyone’s enjoying it.”
It sounds a bit different from the days of Anne Robinson, who was rumoured to have created a frosty atmosphere on set before quitting the show last year.
“It is very different,” Rachel says carefully.
“Each presenter has their own style and you don’t always gel with everybody that you work with.”
In the past, Rachel has diplomatically described Anne as “not the cuddliest”.
“Well, you’re not going to get a sympathetic shoulder to cry on from Anne,” she says today.
“But she might make you cry!”
Besides Countdown, Rachel works with organisations and charities, such as National Numeracy, and is passionate about encouraging more women into STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) careers.
We need more numerate-literate, scientifically-literate and technologically-minded people – and we need women at the table.
Rachel Riley
Just 24% of the UK’s STEM workforce is female,* and research shows that 60% of girls aged 12 feel maths and science are “too difficult” to learn and are better suited to boys.**
“So much of it has to do with confidence, because women and girls are more susceptible to external pressures and what people tell them.
"National Numeracy found that the biggest indicator of whether someone will improve their numeracy is if they believe they can.
"Believing in yourself has a huge effect on outcomes, so we need to change the narrative,” Rachel says.
“If you look back over the years, women were denied education, so the people who have made all the advances in science and maths are men.
"I went to a space museum in Moscow and they had glass cabinets filled with photos of cosmonauts from the 1960s to present day.
“You had to get all the way to the final cabinet before you saw two female faces.
“Without representation, it’s hard to see yourself fitting into a group.
“A huge part of the solution to the climate problem is going to be STEM and it’s where employment is going to be.
“We need more numerate-literate, scientifically-literate and technologically-minded people – and we need women at the table.”
Climate-conscious Rachel and Pasha switched to an electric car last year and the whole family is vegan.
It’s why she’s fronting a campaign by Hello Hydrogen to raise awareness of hydrogen as a future energy source for UK homes.
Believing in yourself has a huge effect on outcomes, so we need to change the narrative.
Rachel Riley
Rachel’s quieter house is about to get even more so, as Pasha heads on a nationwide tour with dance musical La Bamba!, meaning long spells away from home until November.
“The pandemic meant a lot of his work was cancelled, so we’re used to having him around.
"And we’ve had the Ukrainians living with us like a big reciprocal family, so there’s always been someone there to watch the girls if I’ve needed to nip out.
“We really need to sit down and map it all out…”
Does it feel like 10 years since Strictly brought them together?
“They gave us a bottle of champagne with Strictly written on it and I’ve still got it in the cupboard.
“I should open it, as it’s been 10 years, although it’s probably turned to vinegar by now! It’s a long time, isn’t it?
“Four years married and two little girls… I did a podcast with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who was on Strictly with me and we said: ‘Ten years – how has that happened?!’”
- Rachel supports hydrogen as an energy source for the home (Hellohydrogen.com).
