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| Carol Vorderman quits Countdown | Carol Vorderman quits Countdown |
| (39 minutes later) | |
| Presenter Carol Vorderman, 47, has announced she is to step down from presenting the Channel 4 television game show Countdown. | |
| She started work on the quiz show when it began in 1982, alongside host Richard Whiteley. | |
| When Whiteley died in 2005, she continued to co-present with Des Lynam, who was later replaced by Des O'Connor. | |
| Vorderman's announcement comes after O'Connor said on Wednesday that he is also quitting the programme. | |
| Countdown was the first programme seen on Channel 4 and Carol Vorderman was the first woman to be televised on the network. | |
| Carol wants to thank all of the crew, the thousands of contestants who have played the game and the millions of Countdown viewers for whom she has the greatest respect John Miles,Vorderman's manager | |
| Nearly 5,000 episodes of the quiz show - a mixture of word games and mathematical problems - has run for more than 25 years. | |
| With a high IQ as well as degrees in engineering, Vorderman was seen as a natural to calculate complicated mathematical problems on the programme. | |
| In a statement, Vorderman's manager John Miles said she considered quitting the show when Whiteley died but eventually agreed to continue. | |
| He said: "Countdown has been such a huge part of her life for so long. | |
| "Carol wants to thank all of the crew, the thousands of contestants who have played the game and the millions of Countdown viewers for whom she has the greatest respect. | |
| "She is extremely sad." |