Quotes from Rachel Riley

When I was little, I carried a book of times tables around everywhere and always tried to get the best score. I like the fact that you don't need any tools, only your head. I also enjoy rules and, with maths, you are either right or wrong.

I am aware of some of the things about me on the Internet - like people putting up pictures of me online every single day on something called Rachel Watch!

I have had a problem with food intolerance since I was eight.

There's no such thing as a 'maths brain.' Anyone can be numerate; it's just a matter of confidence. There are so many opportunities to improve your skills during everyday life, doing even a little a day can make maths feel more familiar and less scary.

I've always been clumsy, the one who knocks glasses over.

There's an ingrained mentality in our culture that women aren't as good. Other places, it doesn't exist.

I would have never dreamt in a million years I would go out with a ballroom dancer from Russia, as, when we were younger, we did not even speak the same language.

University was a shock to the system. At times, I really thought I couldn't do it. It's the same with 'Strictly.' I'm completely out of my comfort zone.

I like being known for being good at maths and having a brain. If I've been asked to do something but it's not relevant to me, I don't do it. I'd feel a bit of an idiot just turning up in a dress.

I've had inquiries for things like TV show 'Splash,' where people go out in front of the whole nation in a bikini. But I think bikinis are just for the beach.

I've had the 'Countdown' theme-tune as my mobile phone ringtone for years.

For a long time, I thought, 'I'm not a TV presenter,' but now I realise there's no typical route into this business.

I think there is a real negative attitude to splitting up with someone in our society, but it is good to stay friends.

When you're out shopping, try to calculate the discount of something in the sales, or work out how much a bill in a restaurant will come to. Your brain is just like any other muscle - you have to train it to make it work faster.

The brain is muscle. If you don't exercise it, it will get slow.

People can underestimate you when you're blonde and from Essex, but it's easy to shut that down. I used to get dumb blonde jokes when I was 18, but when I replied that I was studying maths at Oxford, it usually shut them up.

Maths is like a ladder - if you miss the first few rungs, you can't jump up, so start with the basics.

I'm a massive football fan, so when Ladbrokes approached me and asked me to take a look at the statistics, I jumped at the chance.

We go to the banya, the Russian spa. And you go into the sauna, which is really hot, much hotter than a normal sauna, and then they beat you with branches.

In TV, you get so many different opportunities, and especially, you get to try something different you don't get to do as a normal person, then great.

Even though you picture Russians as stoic, their language is really poetic.

You can have your opinions, and you can share them with your friends, but why would you go online to tell a stranger something random about their appearance? I don't get that.

My parents encourage me to save, but I do buy the odd thing that I wouldn't tell them about.

I like American late-night shows, like Trevor Noah, John Oliver and Bill Maher - I've got them all on series link.