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Jessica Pratesi

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

External Links