Countdown’s Rachel Riley shares sweet tribute to co-star after big announcement away from Channel 4 show
RACHEL Riley has shared a touching congratulations to one her Countdown co-stars, as they’re recognised with a royal honour.the dictionary guru is awarded an MBE.
Mum of two Rachel celebrated her co-star Susie Dent, who she’s worked with for 15 years, as the dictionary guru is recognised with an MBE.
Writing on her X page, Rachel posted: “Sharing her love of words with the nation since 1992, congratulations on your deserved honour @susie_dent MBE!”
Susie, who received her MBE for services to literature and to language, has been recognised as part of the King’s birthday honours list.
Sharing her own joy at the honour, Susie said she is “thrilled” by the “unexpected recognition” and “will celebrate it on behalf of word lovers everywhere”.
She told fans: “Throughout my career I’ve tried to share the joy of language and of books (above all, the dictionary!) and so I’m especially delighted to be honoured for my contribution to language and literature.
“They are the mainstays of my life, and I’ll do my very best to continue spreading the word, quite literally.”
First joining the show in 1992, Susie has been a regular face in the Dictionary Corner on the afternoon Channel 4 show for more than 30 years.
She began working with Rachel in 2009, after Rachel took over the numbers and letters boards from Carol Vorderman.
Earlier this year in March, Rachel revealed she has been forced to hire ongoing security after she received death threats.
The maths whizz was shelling out thousands in protection costs to escort her to and from the studios for filming.
Mum-of-two Rachel, who has previously said she has been left ‘shaking with fear’, has been vocal in support of the Jewish community amid the Israel Palestine war.
She first hired the security in October of last year and still believes she needs support after ongoing trolling online.
An insider said: “It’s been a really difficult time for Rachel and she is determined to keep being a voice for the community.
“The security has given her that extra confidence. It’s not ideal, but she feels like it’s important.”
It’s not the first time she has required extra security – back in 2019 she was forced to get help after a barrage of online abuse after comments she made condemning Anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn.
She told OK! Magazine in the past: “When I made an innocuous comment about anti-Semitism in [then leader] Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in 2019, it promoted an avalanche of abuse among his supporters.
“I wasn’t making a party-political point. It was because I’m Jewish, although I don’t practise the religion.”
She added: “I had to have extra security at Countdown and the stress caused my then unborn child to stop kicking for two days,
“In the end I got a lawyer and we contacted a handful of the worst offenders.”