Jen Steadman

Jen Steadman octochamp statistics
Final position	Quarter-finalist
Seeding	2
Points total	952
Conundrums solved	6

Jen Steadman

Jen Steadman in her first preliminary game...

...and again in Championship of Champions XIV.

Jen Steadman was an octochamp and quarter-finalist in Series 69, and a semi-finalist in the Championship of Champions XIV, and is statistically the greatest female octochamp in Countdown's history. She was from Paddock Wood, Kent. At the time of her Series 69 appearances, she was a University of Exeter English graduate and by the time of her Championship of Champions games, she was a freelance journalist/proofreader. She is also a member of Apterous and c4countdown, and was the PR and marketing officer for FOCAL.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

In her run, which began with the defeat of Peter Etherington on 30 August 2013, and was completed with the defeat of Ross Lander on 10 September, Steadman broke various records. In becoming the then third highest-scoring contestant in the show's history with 952 points, she became the first woman to score above 900 points in her octorun, scored the highest ever score by a woman with her 130 against Ian Toulson in her fourth game, and became the first woman (and only the tenth player overall) to score eight centuries in her eight preliminaries.

Finals

Steadman returned to the finals as number two seed. Despite her record-breaking octochamp run, she failed to solve the crucial conundrum GANGLIONS and was beaten in her quarter-final match by seven-time winner Callum Todd, who went on to win the series.

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

In 2015, Steadman returned to the Countdown studio as a contestant in Episode Cats33, assisting Sean Lock and Jason Manford to victory over Sarah Millican, Jonathan Ross and Roisin Conaty.

Championship of Champions XIV

Steadman returned in 2016 for Championship of Champions XIV, facing off against fellow University of Exeter alumnus George Ford in the preliminary round, winning 126 – 99. In the quarter-final, Steadman once again faced Callum Todd. This time, Steadman emerged victorious by executing some superb power plays to avenge her Series 69 defeat 107 – 85 to claim her place in the semi-finals. Relative to contestants' prior win counts, this formed the first upset of CoC XIV. In the semi-final against "Cool Dan McColm", after being level for the first six rounds, Steadman fell behind to new word ROSMARINE, but reduced the gap with another new word, MOMENTAL, in Round 11. The next round however saw both contestants offering risky eights. McColm's offering of GENIUSED was good, but Steadman's attempt of unsieved ☓ was invalid. A flat Round 13 and easy last numbers round saw McColm avoid a crucial conundrum. Steadman solved ENIDPLATT to sign off with a score of 117, at the time the show's second-highest losing score. This confirmed her as the first female octochamp (and fifth octochamp overall) to have scored only centuries, after Julian Fell, Craig Beevers and Jack Hurst and Dylan Taylor.

Co-events

Away from the studio, Steadman was the 2017 FOCAL season runner-up, coming second to Rob Foster in the 2017 FOCAL finals before winning her first event at Co:Wolves 2019. She hosted Co:Lon 2017, which smashed the Co-event attendance record by attracting 68 players (the previous highest was 52), and CO:LON:2, which maintained the high level of interest with 67 players.

Outside of Countdown

Steadman has enthusiastically supported Tonbridge Angels F.C. since 2006. She also enjoys travelling, being stylish, and collecting hair accessories in her spare time.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5759	30/08/2013	P	Peter Etherington	52 – 104	Jen Steadman	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Edwards	Susie Dent	122
5760	02/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	112 – 19	Derek Knowles	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Edwards	Susie Dent	120
5761	03/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	118 – 41	David Robinson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jonathan Edwards	Susie Dent	121
5762	04/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	130 – 49	Ian Toulson	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Connie Fisher	Susie Dent	132
5763	05/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	117 – 62	Ray Tate	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Connie Fisher	Susie Dent	120
5764	06/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	126 – 36	Helen Betts	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Connie Fisher	Susie Dent	131
5765	09/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	126 – 55	Ned French	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Connie Fisher	Susie Dent	147
5766	10/09/2013	P	Jen Steadman	119 – 82	Ross Lander	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Connie Fisher	Susie Dent	131
5834	13/12/2013	QF	Jen Steadman	105 – 108	Callum Todd	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dan Walker	Susie Dent	133
Cats33	13/02/2015	S	Jen Steadman, Jason Manford & Sean Lock	54 – 28	Sarah Millican, Jonathan Ross & Roisin Conaty	Jimmy Carr	Rachel Riley					Bill Bailey	Susie Dent	68
6282	08/01/2016	CP	George Ford	99 – 126	Jen Steadman	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	137
6288	18/01/2016	CQF	Jen Steadman	107 – 85	Callum Todd	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Naga Munchetty	Susie Dent	125
6291	21/01/2016	CSF	Jen Steadman	117 – 125	Dan McColm	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Naga Munchetty	Susie Dent	146