Rachel Riley jokes England players could have been on Naked Attraction rather than Countdown

England players got involved in a spot of Countdown earlier this week – but according to Rachel Riley, they could have been on a very different programme altogether.

In fact, Riley thinks they’re very lucky they weren’t booked to take part in Naked Attraction instead.

John Stones, Luke Shaw, Eric Dier and James Maddison all appeared in a special version of the show, which was hosted by regular Countdown presenter Riley.

When Dier was asked how he was feeling about taking part in the game, he replied: “I don’t know how I’ve been dragged into it to be honest.”

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Riley then joked: “It could have been worse: Channel 4 could have sent the Naked Attraction team. So count your lucky stars you’ve just got Countdown today, ok?”

Bukayo Saka In Stitches At England Teammates On Countdown | England Vs Countdown | Three Lionswww.youtube.com

It sparked laughter in the England ranks – and an eyebrow raise from Maddison too.

The game also saw Bukayo Saka take part in Dictionary Corner, checking off the answers of his teammates and doing the job normally done by host Susie Dent.

It’s safe to say the scoring on offer wasn’t quite up to the usual standards we see on the programme.

The joke raised a few eyebrows among the England playersChannel 4

In the first round, Maddison and Dier could only manage four letter word answers of “meat” and “heat” – answers which amused Saka.

Maddison progressed to the next round though. Next, Luke Shaw took on John Stones, before Shaw played Maddison in the final.

After a showdown, it was Maddison who won and managed to win the famous Countdown teapot, which he said was a “dream come true”.

The game took place before England beat Italy 2-1 in the first game of Euro 2024 qualifying, thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Declan Rice.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.