John Mayhew

John Mayhew.

John Mayhew was the winner of series 53.

He started his Countdown career by deposing Gary Buxton from the champions chair with a century, following it up with another. He spotted 2 nines in his octochamp run, SUNDERING and INTERVALS, made obvious by sitting back and looking at the clock. Returning for the finals, he beat Chris Hunt in the quarter-final in a tight game before defeating C4C forumite Jon O'Neill by just 1 point in a needle match. The final, Richard Whiteley's last ever show, was a nerve-affected affair with neither playing great. The score was dead level going into the conundrum, and neither player managed to spot SIGNATURE, before John M unscrambled FALSIFIED to become series champion.

He returned for Championship of Champions XII, but was eliminated in the first round by Paul Howe, who spotted the impressive GEOMATICS.

Preceded by Mark Tournoff

Series winner Series 53

Followed by Conor Travers