Nick Hewer quits Countdown

Nick Hewer has announced that he is to leave Countdown once his current contract ends next year. He’s had a good run and is the second longest host after Richard Whiteley.

Will be interesting to see who replaces him. I imagine Colin Murray’s stint could be a test run for him potentially taking over.

Thank God. The bloke has no charisma.

Maybe Colin. He does a good job of presenting the snooker on Eurosport. He could be a good choice for Countdown too. They've always had older men, so maybe time for a change.

You say "always", but Colin is several years older than Richard Whiteley was in 1982.

Whilst Nick has certainly settled into the role, it’ll be good to see someone new at the helm. I’ll reserve judgement for Colin Murray (if he goes permanent) but whenever he’s been in dictionary corner his enthusiasm for the programme shows.

I always thought it was a shame Jeff Stelling left the show, he was the best host of Countdown post Whiteley.

If Channel 4 wanted to save some dosh, they could have Jimmy Carr present Countdown as well as Catsdown.

Sandi Tokzvig would be a good choice, she did well at Fifteen to One. And she has previous on word games being a panellist on Call My Bluff.

Or maybe Colin Murray’s stint may well become more permanent depending on how well he does and how well received he is.

I’m not sure it works like that!

Well the more recent hosts Lynam, O'Connor, Stelling and Hewer were over 50 or 60 when they got the job.

I’d like to see someone like Richard Digance take over. Dictionary Corner guests before the Nick Hewer era were always pretty good.

My money's on flavour of the month Alison Hammond.

Or just incorporate Countdown into Packed Lunch and give it to Steph to do.

I’m going for either Baroness Chakrabarti or Jim Davidson