Rachel Riley returning to Countdown filming ‘in a few weeks’ after birth of first child confirms co-host Susie Dent

Countdown’s word-master extraordinaire Susie Dent has confirmed that Rachel Riley is set to return to the show ‘in a few weeks time’ after the birth of her daughter.

Rachel gave birth to Maven, her first child with Strictly Come Dancing professional Pasha Kovalev, in December.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, the long-time Dictionary Corner resident has spoken on when we can expect Rachel’s return to the show following her maternity leave.

‘We’re all going back into the studio in a few week’s time,’ Susie told us. ‘We’ll be back and just pick up where we left off. We’re not going back into the studio without Rachel.’

She also revealed viewers will not have to wait for Rachel to return from maternity for any new episodes, saying: ‘We banked up a lot of episodes before she went on maternity leave, so we have a lot in the can to keep us going while she’s been off.’