Jeff Stelling to leave Countdown

Jeff Stelling will be leaving Countdown after a brilliant three years of fronting the popular letters and numbers show to concentrate on his football role at Sky Sports.

Jeff will continue to present Countdown until the end of 2011 and the hunt for a replacement is already on. Channel 4 is currently in talks with a number of people and will be making an announcement in due course.

Head of Daytime, Helen Warner, said: "Jeff has had a brilliant three years on Countdown and we're sad to see him go. We've got plenty of time to find a replacement and are already talking to a number of people. Countdown continues to be a hugely popular show and we're delighted with its performance and the fantastic presenting team including Rachel and Susie."