Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
In school productions, I was always villager No. 7. I was never at the front of the stage dancing and never had any lines.
It's always flattering when you get compliments, but it's more of a measure of who you are at the time than anything else.
I am the type of person who just gets on with whatever life throws at you. I have a 'do first, worry later' kind of attitude.
As soon as I am out of my work clothes, I am in flat shoes, stretchy leggings, and a cashmere jumper; it's all low maintenance.
I'm a massive football fan, so when Ladbrokes approached me and asked me to take a look at the statistics, I jumped at the chance.
A review of maths teaching is a great thing, but it's a complex issue, and often the damage is done in the very early years of education.
I was used to Essex boys growing up. Russian boys are a lot more gentlemanly and thoughtful. They will express their emotions a bit more.
The best thing about 'Strictly' is it doesn't matter what level you start at, if you've never put a foot in front of the other in your life.
I was on 'Strictly' because I was getting stage fright. I was taught that I had to imagine what a good outcome would be and be happy with it.
I have loved 'Countdown' for years. I always used to watch it when I got home from school. To be actually on the programme is a big challenge.
Isolation among older people is a massive problem, and my grandad used to come round for Sunday lunch every week for as long as I can remember.
I am lucky because I often get my makeup done by professionals, and they always try new ideas; I'll attempt to vaguely recreate what they've done.
Maths is like learning a language: you need to learn the basics to get going, but a lot of adults go into blind panic about numbers and switch off.
My parents supported me through university, and after I graduated, I got a job as an analyst at a price comparison website called TotallyMoney.com.
In TV, you get so many different opportunities, and especially, you get to try something different you don't get to do as a normal person, then great.
I don't think you need to get married necessarily. Girls just assume they will get married and have babies, but that isn't the right thing for everyone.
University was a shock to the system. At times, I really thought I couldn't do it. It's the same with 'Strictly.' I'm completely out of my comfort zone.
We go to the banya, the Russian spa. And you go into the sauna, which is really hot, much hotter than a normal sauna, and then they beat you with branches.
I am aware of some of the things about me on the Internet - like people putting up pictures of me online every single day on something called Rachel Watch!
I was with my ex-husband for eight or nine years, and we became good friends. I met him at university, and our relationship ended. We are still good friends.
I've had inquiries for things like TV show 'Splash,' where people go out in front of the whole nation in a bikini. But I think bikinis are just for the beach.
I would have never dreamt in a million years I would go out with a ballroom dancer from Russia, as, when we were younger, we did not even speak the same language.
I only applied for 'Countdown' as a bit of a laugh while applying for lots of other graduate jobs. I've had some amazing opportunities, and I've loved every minute.
I'm 5ft 7in tall and a size six to eight on top and eight to ten on the bottom. Consequently, I get a lot of my clothes altered to fit, as I am always between sizes.
You can have your opinions, and you can share them with your friends, but why would you go online to tell a stranger something random about their appearance? I don't get that.
Being bad at maths shouldn't be something to brag about, and I'm glad people are waking up to this, but there's no reason be embarrassed to look for help when it comes to numeracy.
Filming 'It's Not Rocket Science' has made me realise I'm missing the part of my brain that warns me about danger because - even though the tasks are terrifying - I find it really exciting.
I take vitamin C and zinc every day to keep colds at bay. I also take calcium tablets to supplement my lack of dairy, and d-mannose, a cranberry extract thought to be good for women's health.
I like being known for being good at maths and having a brain. If I've been asked to do something but it's not relevant to me, I don't do it. I'd feel a bit of an idiot just turning up in a dress.
If I find a dress I really like and it happens to be a bit short, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. The thing about going to Oxford is it does give you the confidence to be how you want to be.
I'm very excited to be joining the 'Gadget Show' family. I'm always keen to try out new gadgets, so it's going to be brilliant to be able to get my hands on the latest models and test them on behalf of the viewers.
People can underestimate you when you're blonde and from Essex, but it's easy to shut that down. I used to get dumb blonde jokes when I was 18, but when I replied that I was studying maths at Oxford, it usually shut them up.
When you're out shopping, try to calculate the discount of something in the sales, or work out how much a bill in a restaurant will come to. Your brain is just like any other muscle - you have to train it to make it work faster.
I use a stylist, which wasn't something I imagined I'd ever do, because I like shopping, but because we prerecord 'Countdown,' I don't want to wear something that everyone has from the high street by the time the programme goes out.
When I was little, I carried a book of times tables around everywhere and always tried to get the best score. I like the fact that you don't need any tools, only your head. I also enjoy rules and, with maths, you are either right or wrong.
Digital exclusion is a difficult issue for families across the whole of the U.K., including my own. I love seeing my nan, but with such a busy schedule and a long distance between us, I don't get to see her nearly as often as I would like.
More than other subjects, there's a myth that you have to be an absolute genius to be good at maths and to enjoy it, so I think it's less accessible for people. Even the word 'maths' makes people screw their face up. They do the maths face.
There's no such thing as a 'maths brain.' Anyone can be numerate; it's just a matter of confidence. There are so many opportunities to improve your skills during everyday life, doing even a little a day can make maths feel more familiar and less scary.
I didn't realise until I did CBT that I was a perfectionist. Whenever you do anything, there are always going to be things that go wrong, it's never going to be 100 per cent perfect. Because of how I was, I'd focus on those bits and always see the negative in anything.
From my personal experience, because I'm in a relationship, on paper I would never have imagined - I'm an Essex girl, maths geek who likes football, and I've ended up with a Russian ballroom dancer, and I guess the things you think are important, especially when you're younger, turn out not to be.
You sit men and women down and give them a maths test, and they will do fairly equally. Then you set up the same test, but with different people, and make them tick a box to say whether they are a man or a woman, and the women do significantly worse in the maths test than they did previously in a group set.