Jack Worsley
| Jack Worsley octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Champion |
| Seeding | 2 |
| Points total | 818 |
| Conundrums solved | 4 |
Jack Worsley was a contestant in Series 65, an octochamp in and the champion of Series 66, and a quarter-finalist in the 30th Birthday Championship. He is from Blackpool, Lancashire. He is the 100th 15-round octochamp in Countdown history. He is also an Apterite who has held the No. 1 Pro Rank position, and is a member of the c4countdown messaging board.
Heat games
Worsley made his debut on 7 December 2011 in the overall last heat game of Series 65, 2011 and of Jeff Stelling's tenure as presenter before stepping aside for the December 2011 finals. He returned on 9 January 2012 for the start of the Nick Hewer era and won the first episode of Series 66 and 2012 along with six more, never facing a crucial conundrum and scoring centuries in all but one of his heats.
Finals
After defeating Mark Murphy in his quarter-final and Peter Lee in a close semi-final, he faced a grand final encounter against Jonathan Rawlinson.
Worsley took first blood with SANTERO but the No. 1 seed fought back with PITHOI soon after, and both players were in contention to the end. Worsley led 80 – 70, going into the final round of play. But the crucial conundrum of TINYROLES defeated both players, meaning that Worsley became the show's 66th series champion.
30th Birthday Championship
Worsley returned to the show in 2013, as one of 41 contestants that took part in 30th Birthday Championship.
After receiving a bye to the first round, he faced Graeme Cole in a classic face-off; Cole scored maximum points in the first thirteen rounds and led by fourteen points with two rounds to go. Worsley picked four large numbers in the final numbers round, and brilliantly solved it to force a crucial conundrum. Worsley buzzed in with the correct answer in one second to win by 104 – 98.
He then beat Christine Hunt in Round 2, leaving the competition with just male contestants.
He then came up against Jon O'Neill and after Worsley's invalid declaration in Round 1, he managed to keep up with O'Neill before O'Neill got the conundrum of ECOSPHERE – O'Neill achieved a max game in the process and ended Worsley's unbeaten record on the show.
Special episode
Worsley returned once more on 23 December 2020, for a festive special episode against Conor Travers. In an extremely close match, Worsley fell eight points behind after Travers spotted COLUMNAR in Round 7. Worsley took the opposition to a crucial conundrum, but neither player attempted it and the scoreline finished at 118 – 110 in Travers' favour.
Tournaments
Worsley attended his first Co-event in 2012 when he played at CO:REA along with his dad, Paul. A week later, he and his dad attended CoLei5. Another two months later, he entered COHUD followed by CoChest2 in October and COEDI in November. He played at CO:REA 2013, CO:REA 2014 (where he beat Giles Hutchings by 108 – 93 in the final) and CO:REA 2015 (where he beat Conor Travers by 117 – 97 in the final). Worsley has won a record of 25 co-event titles in his career, five wins clear of Rob Foster. He has also won many online tournaments, plus winning the prestigious Apterous Masters a record five times and a 6 – 0 whitewash of Elliott Mellor in the 2020 final.
| Preceded by Graeme Cole |
Series winner Series 66 |
Followed by Paul James |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5391 | 7/12/2011 | P | Phyllis Styles | 39 – 103 | Jack Worsley | Jeff Stelling | Rachel Riley | David Lloyd | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 5399 | 9/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 105 – 54 | Brian Tuohy | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 127 | ||
| 5400 | 10/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 110 – 44 | Catherine Green | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 150 | ||
| 5401 | 11/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 103 – 67 | Barry Williams | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 140 | ||
| 5402 | 12/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 100 – 51 | Marcia Wells | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 5403 | 13/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 107 – 50 | Abi Maher | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 129 | ||
| 5404 | 16/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 105 – 73 | Stewart Macpherson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Suchet | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 5405 | 17/01/2012 | P | Jack Worsley | 85 – 51 | Alan Paterson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | John Suchet | Susie Dent | 120 | ||
| 5512 | 22/06/2012 | QF | Mark Murphy | 52 – 75 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Penny Smith | Susie Dent | 113 | ||
| 5516 | 28/06/2012 | SF | Peter Lee | 88 – 91 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
| 5517 | 29/06/2012 | GF | Jack Worsley | 80 – 70 | Jonathan Rawlinson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 117 | ||
| 5633 | 31/01/2013 | 30B1 | Graeme Cole | 98 – 104 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Mark Foster | Susie Dent | 118 | ||
| 5646 | 19/02/2013 | 30B2 | Christine Hunt | 67 – 115 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 117 | ||
| 5649 | 22/02/2013 | 30BQF | Jon O'Neill | 122 – 104 | Jack Worsley | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Phil Hammond | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| S49 | 23/12/2020 | S | Conor Travers | 118 – 110 | Jack Worsley | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Rory Bremner | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
