26 October 2023 , 12:10
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As the face of the iconic Channel 4 game show Countdown, Rachel Riley is known to many viewers as a maths whizz and expert puzzler, but behind the numbers, her life has been filled with plenty of drama. The 37-year-old "proud maths geek" rose to fame at the age of 22 after taking over the coveted role from legendary presenter Carol Vorderman.
In the years since, there has been plenty of interest in the Oxford University graduate's personal life away from the studio, including her divorce from teenage sweetheart Jamie Gilbert and second marriage to former Strictly Come Dancing partner, Pasha Kovalev.
Rachel is still friends with ex-husband Jamie (REX/Shutterstock)
She and now-husband Pasha first locked eyes in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom (PA)Millionaire first husband
Brainy Rachel met her first husband, the millionaire businessman Jamie Gilbert, while they were both studying at Oxford. They briefly called time on their relationship in 2009, but rekindled their love in 2011, and, after settling down in Essex, tied the knot in 2012. Their star-studded wedding guest list naturally included former Countdown host Nick Hewer, who declared bride Rachel to be "one of the most beautiful women in England".
In an interview with Hello! magazine, Nick said: "When you’ve got brains and beauty combined, then you've hit the jackpot – at least Mr Gilbert has." Just 16 months into their union, however, Rachel and Jamie called it quits, with the couple announcing their divorce while Rachel was competing in the 2013 season of Strictly Come Dancing.
Rachel later explained that her various TV commitments ended up taking a toll on their short marriage, telling GQ: "At that time, I was doing Countdown and The Gadget Show, so I was living in Essex, I was filming in Birmingham and in Salford, and then filming Strictly in Borehamwood, with a bit of It Takes Two in London. I was getting three hours’ sleep a night, trying to fit in all these things. [...] All you want to do at that time is the dancing because you know you’ve got to do this thing in a few days."
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Clarifying that their split was nothing to do with the so-called 'Strictly curse', Rachel continued: "No. I'm still friends with my ex-husband. He's great, he's a brilliant guy. We were together since I was 19 and it wasn't right… What Strictly did give me was distance - because I was away from home in Birmingham, Salford, Borehamwood. It was the emotional distance that I needed to break away."
Marriage with Strictly love
Rachel found love again with professional dancer Pasha Kovalev, who she was partnered with during her time on Strictly. The couple began dating in 2014, and surprised friends and family with a whirlwind Las Vegas wedding in 2019. Speaking with the Daily Express at the time, Rachel recalled: "So we were never bothered about getting married, but then we just were like 'shall we just get married' once we were having the baby. And actually, we had such a nice day. It was really lovely. But we only decided the week before.
"You just go to the courthouse and pay like $60 (£50) or whatever it is - and until we had that piece of paper, we didn't realise it really is that easy. You walk in, you pay the money, you go out… So we were like, 'Ok, well we can do it then!'
Pasha and Rachel have since welcomed their two young daughters, Noa and Maven, and will often keep fans updated about family life via Instagram. Rachel hasn't shied away from speaking up about the difficulties of parenting young children, however, and back in July of this year remarked that a date night still "feels like a million miles away".
Opening up in an interview with The Sun, Rachel said: "It's been busy, it's been different, but everything is always in flux. It would be nice, once I'm not feeding the baby and picking her up, maybe we could even have a night together, but that feels a million miles away at the moment." She added: "When the kids get old and move out, you've still got each other and we value that and we look forward to that when we can get back to that but also we don't feel time constrained."