Countdown star Rachel Riley has opened up about a racy joke from 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown co-star Sean Lock – and how her husband Pasha Kovalev reacted
Rachel Riley has shared her husband Pasha Kovalev’s reaction to a risqué joke from the late comedian Sean Lock. Rachel, 39, was a regular on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown alongside the comic.
During a 2019 episode of the popular programme, Rachel humorously claimed she enjoyed skiing whilst donning a viking helmet and a faux beard. Sean, who sadly passed away in 2021 from lung cancer, responded with the cheeky remark that it was a “challenging w**k”.
This caused Rachel and her fellow show members to erupt into laughter. A chuckling Sean then apologised to his Countdown co-star.
While featuring on Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things podcast, Rachel revealed that her husband Pasha found the comment amusing. However, she confessed that the Strictly Come Dancing star would never dream of making such a crude jest.
She said: “I’ve got friends, some of my best friends, and they take the p**s out of each other constantly, they’re just niggling and niggling. Pasha would never in a million years dream of saying something unkind or jokey.
“I’m from Essex and I’m used to football and boys. I’m used to banter and working with Jimmy [Carr]. Abuse is their form of love language and Pasha would never dream of saying anything that would undermine me.
“It’s kind of revolutionary. It’s like, ‘This is really nice when people who love you are nice to you, I like it’.”
Russell then asked how Pasha felt about the saucy joke “going everywhere”. Rachel responded: “It’s fun isn’t it.
“The funny thing about that is that, some of the show is scripted and some of it is not, and I genuinely do wear that when I go skiing, I love it. Sean didn’t know that I was going to do that and my dad was in the audience that night.
“It was the only time ever that Sean came up to me afterwards and said, ‘I’m really sorry, I just had to do that’. I was like, ‘Great, it was hilarious’. It was funny.”
Rachel, who became a household name after taking over from Carol Vorderman as Countdown’s maths whizz, met Pasha while they were both contestants on Strictly in 2013. They were the fifth couple to be eliminated from the series.
The duo announced their relationship in December of the same year. They tied the knot six years later in Las Vegas.
They welcomed their first child, Maven, in 2019. Their second child, Noa, arrived in 2021.
Rachel will be appearing on Sunday Brunch at 10am on Channel 4 today (July 20). She will be discussing her stint on SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters.
Meanwhile, former Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts will be chatting about her new book. Ryan Sampson, Harriet Webb, Geoff Norcott, Jim Sturgess and Nectar Woode will also be guests on the show.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
