c4countdown

Hi there

I'm a very infrequent poster here so my apologies in advance if this question is covered elsewhere or has something of Fight Club about it but can anybody clarify the rule if any regarding repeat appearances on Countdown? I know they quite regularly have contestants who have been on before and they even mention it, but do you have to be invited to reapply? Do you maybe have to have won at least one show, say? The application form seems to suggest it's only by special consent...

I'd love to have another go although it's "only" six years since I was on before; maybe they want longer gaps. Grateful for any info people can give me.

The last 4 series winners were all past contestants, each having won no games previously. My gap was around 6 years as well, and Dan's was even less. 2 of the losing finalists were also past contestants, and I think I played a few others as well, so they seem pretty relaxed about it these days.

I just applied the normal way, and know of others who have done the same, so this seems to be the best way.

Based on you being six years ago, are you the middle of the 3 David Smiths to have been on? http://wiki.apterous.org/David_Smith

I am indeed. One of the great Mr Hurst's scalps!

Thanks very much for your info and advice. Presumably you mentioned on the form you'd been on before, too?

David Smith wrote:Do you maybe have to have won at least one show, say?

From what we've seen so far, I think people are more likely to be readmitted if they haven't been successful on previous appearances. I'd say you have quite a good shot, especially given who your original opponent was. The longer ago you were on, the more liberal they seem to be about it -- even former quarter-finalists are being let on now if they appeared in the 9-round era. So by all means, keep applying and you should eventually get in again.

Brilliant stuff. Thanks to you too Johnny.

Damien told me the usual waiting period to reapply is 10 years.

Mark James wrote:Damien told me the usual waiting period to reapply is 10 years.

How did Dan get back on after only 4 years, then? Particularly as he was already an adult the first time as opposed to some other people like Bradley Cates.

Johnny Canuck wrote:How did Dan get back on after only 4 years, then? Particularly as he was already an adult the first time as opposed to some other people like Bradley Cates.

Don't even go there.

REDACTED

There's some stuff here and here to read.

Johnny Canuck wrote:

Mark James wrote:Damien told me the usual waiting period to reapply is 10 years.

How did Dan get back on after only 4 years, then?

Because usual doesn't mean absolute. Obviously there are people who have not had to wait that long but he basically said it to me that 10 years was a decent rule of thumb. It wasn't an exact ruling.

David, information on this subject seems harder to come by than opinion. If you do decide to reapply, I wish you all the best.

I know of a number of contestants who have reappeared on the show in recent years and as far as I know, none of them was invited to reapply (except those who appeared on special shows, the 30th Birthday Championship and Champion of Champions). Some were previous winners and others weren't.

The length of time that people wait between appearances has varied considerably over the years, but patience does seem to pay off. Recent years have been somewhat dominated by youngsters, but there has been a fair sprinkling of series finalists who waited more than ten years to reappear: Peter Lee, Paul James, Eileen Taylor, Glen Webb, Mark Murray, Tricia Pay, Tracey Mills, Stephen Briggs, Judy Beresford...

Johnny has said he thinks that people are more likely to be readmitted if they haven't been successful on previous appearances, and I have spoken to other people who think the same. There is evidence both ways, so I think it is hard to say for sure. The idea that someone is more likely to be readmitted because of who their original opponent(s) was or were sounds pretty far-fetched to me.

Heather Styles wrote:David, information on this subject seems harder to come by than opinion. If you do decide to reapply, I wish you all the best.

I know of a number of contestants who have reappeared on the show in recent years and as far as I know, none of them was invited to reapply (except those who appeared on special shows, the 30th Birthday Championship and Champion of Champions). Some were previous winners and others weren't.

The length of time that people wait between appearances has varied considerably over the years, but patience does seem to pay off. Recent years have been somewhat dominated by youngsters, but there has been a fair sprinkling of series finalists who waited more than ten years to reappear: Peter Lee, Paul James, Eileen Taylor, Glen Webb, Mark Murray, Tricia Pay, Tracey Mills, Stephen Briggs, Judy Beresford...

Johnny has said he thinks that people are more likely to be readmitted if they haven't been successful on previous appearances, and I have spoken to other people who think the same. There is evidence both ways, so I think it is hard to say for sure. The idea that someone is more likely to be readmitted because of who their original opponent(s) was or were sounds pretty far-fetched to me.

Thanks for your reply Heather.

.. Submitted my application as suggested, being upfront about my previous appearance, but have been told it's a no-no for the time being.

Roll on 2020!

I don't know if it's set in stone but I think the broadcasting authorities like to encourage a good spread of contestants on shows like this both age-wise and geographically.

So I think one reason they may have relaxed the rules is that as the show is now over 30 years old many of the people now in their 40s to 60s who might want a go had already appeared, and so were barred until two or three years ago. That makes achieving a good spread of ages harder. Mastermind may also have had the same issue at one time.

If you are younger and there are still plenty of young hopefuls applying then maybe you have to wait longer, although as has been pointed out that hasn't applied to everyone.