Helen Grayson

Helen Grayson originally appeared on Countdown in the first series, drawing with Joyce Cansfield in her first game before defeating her in the subsequent game. Helen won two more games before having to retire for personal reasons, and as a consequence, did not qualify for the series 1 grand final. Helen returned in series 6 and was allowed to 'start from scratch' by the producers. Helen won seven games in impressive fashion before again retiring due to personal reasons. She returned for the finals as #1 seed, and beat Peter Hillman in the quarter-finals before losing to Olivia Lloyd, whose heats run she had cut short earlier in the series.