Jessica Pratesi

Jessica Pratesi octochamp statistics
Final position	Semi-finalist
Seeding	4
Points total	822
Conundrums solved	5

Jessica Pratesi in Series 67...

...and 12 years later in Series 89.

Jessica Pratesi was a contestant in Series 67, and an octochamp and semi-finalist in Series 89. As of her second appearance, she was an indoor air quality consultant from Leyton in London.

Countdown

Series 67

On her first televised appearance, she lost by one point after missing the crucial conundrum AUGMENTID, which incumbent contestant, Liam Shaw, turned into MAGNITUDE to not only win but also confirm his status as an octochamp.

Series 89

As a result of that matchup, Pratesi returned 11-and-a-half years later and kicked off with a century against one-time-winner and Apterite, Anthony Noonan. This time, her quest for octochampdom could not be stopped as Pratesi racked up seven more victories – five of those were century games, which included a high of 123. She also picked out the nine-letter words LEGATIONS and CLUSTERED – the latter coming during her personal best game.

After having to come back for an unexpected third filming day owing to one of her original opponents being unwell, she wrapped up with a very round 100 against fellow returning contestant, Steven Henton, to become the seventh octochamp of the series in under four months. She finished with a final total of 822 points to place as the provisional third seed, eight points below Toby Byfield.

Series 89 finals

Pratesi ultimately returned as the fourth seed for a match against fellow returnee and octochamp, Mark Goodliffe. The two of them played very well – both maxing 10 rounds, although Pratesi's first numbers round solve, and the letters round spots of LOUDISH and the darrenic MADUROS crucially were worth more points, which just kept her in front after the final numbers round with a sixth century to her name. After Goodliffe solved the conundrum, it rubber-stamped Pratesi's progression to a semi-final against number one seed, Arthur Page.

In the aforementioned encounter, Page immediately raced off the blocks to a 14-point lead, but Pratesi clawed back into range through the spot of HURRAH and after Page's gambles of overgilt ☓ and rankage ☓ backfired on him. Pratesi also took some points in the final numbers round after Page had another misfire to ultimately force a crucial conundrum. Unfortunately for Pratesi, Page then buzzed in after 3.5 seconds with the very much correct OBEDIENCY from BEYONCEID which marked the end of her second run on the show in almost identical circumstances to the first. Her score of 90 in her last game was still very impressive, and she finished with a final points total of 1,014 from her Series 89 appearances to add to the 82 points scored in her Series 67 game.

Other information

She has also been a competitive Scrabble player, and being born in December 1995, she became the youngest person to play at a London Scrabble League fixture on 16 May 2004. She is also a two-time UK Youth Scrabble Champion, in 2010 and 2012, and represented England at the World Youth Scrabble Championships, finishing ninth in the 2012 tournament.

Before her first appearance, she appeared at the Co-events COLIN 2012 and CO:REA 2012.

Her mother, Diane, was a contestant in Series 18 and 91, winning two games in the former. Her father, Mauro, is the chairman of the London Scrabble League, and was a contestant in Series 65. Her younger sister, Natasha, was a contestant in Series 76. Notably, all four of the Pratesi family have lost games on crucial conundrums.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5555	26/09/2012	P	Liam Shaw	83 – 82	Jessica Pratesi	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Alistair McGowan	Susie Dent	122
8243	03/04/2024	P	Anthony Noonan	51 – 109	Jessica Pratesi	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	135
8244	04/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	110 – 54	Chris Craddock	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	122
8245	05/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	83 – 47	Jack Salisbury	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Pam Ayres	Susie Dent	144
8246	08/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	106 – 33	David Long	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Nighat Arif	Susie Dent	144
8247	09/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	123 – 35	Dave Bennett	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Nighat Arif	Susie Dent	137
8248	10/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	104 – 45	Mark O'Shaughnessy	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Nighat Arif	Susie Dent	133
8249	11/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	87 – 72	Gareth Ellis	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Dr Nighat Arif	Susie Dent	122
8250	12/04/2024	P	Jessica Pratesi	100 – 58	Steve Henton	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	JB Gill	Susie Dent	125
8302	25/06/2024	QF	Jessica Pratesi	102 – 99	Mark Goodliffe	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Marcus Brigstocke	Susie Dent	124
8303	26/06/2024	SF	Arthur Page	102 – 90	Jessica Pratesi	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Marcus Brigstocke	Susie Dent	134

External Links

• One of her Scrabble games