Entertainment
Countdown contestant, 21, ‘elated’ after becoming highest scoring player in show’s 40 year history-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro
He posted the highest score in Countdown history.
Tom Stevenson has revealed the secrets behind his record-breaking run on Countdown (Picture: Facebook)
A 21-year-old Countdown prodigy has revealed the secrets behind his record breaking run on the daytime Channel 4 quiz show.
Contestant Tom Stevenson broke the record for the highest ever score in the series’ 40-year history, with a whopping total of 154.
It beat the previous record, which was set in May 2019 by Manchester Metropolitan University student Elliott Mellor, by two points.
Tom also became an ‘Octochamp’ – the title given to Countdown contestants who win all eight of their heat matches, before going onto the knockout rounds.
He also managed to win all eight matches without losing a single round, which was also revealed to be a series first by host Colin Murray.
Speaking to MailOnline, Tom said: ‘I’m elated to have done so well. It wasn’t something that I set out to do, I mainly set out just to have a fun time and just win one game.’
Tom won all eight of his heat matches, becoming an ‘Octachamp’ in the process (Picture: Channel 4)
He continued: ‘The rest has been a bonus really. It’s been quite surreal to be honest. I’m just happy to be back again each time.’
The student gave a tip to people who might want to apply for Countdown in the future, advising them to look for prefixes and suffixes in the letter jumbles.
‘That can easily transform your four-letter word into a six or a seven.’
Tom says he first applied to Countdown in 2017 and was finally accepted in 2022 (Picture: Facebook)
Tom, who attends the University of Worcester, revealed that he first applied to appear on the show almost five years ago after struggling with agoraphobia while studying for his GCSEs.
‘I sent an application at 16 but it’s the case with particular shows that it can take a while to get on. I tried again and eventually managed to get on this year.’
Agoraphobia is often causes an extreme fear of crowded or wide-open places, of leaving the home, and being in places from which escape is difficult.
Host Colin Murray couldn’t help but show how impressed he was with young Tom (Picture: Channel 4/Countdown)
Tom admitted that, during his lowest points, he found it difficult to leave the house and often felt ‘nauseous’ when he did.
In order to pass the time at home, Tom said he took to watching Countdown during the day and realised he was managing to get high scores.
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The high-scoring prodigy also told MailOnline that he was late to a lecture earlier this week because he was being interviewed by BBC Radio 4.
The BBC’s Alexander Armstrong recently revealed that he turned down the chance to host Countdown, choosing to stay at home on Pointless.
Countdown airs weekdays at 2.10pm on Channel 4.
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