A Countdown champion has been charged with stabbing a rival contestant in an incident in Blackpool in September, which left the victim hospitalised.

John Cowen, 30, was arrested at Countdown in Blackpool 2024; an annual tournament that sees former Channel 4 gameshow winners play against each other.

During the event, Cowen attacked his opponent with a knife and has now been charged with a section 18 wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.

Rasputin-lookalike Cowen, from Morecambe, Lancashire, was placed in custody and is set to appear at Preston Crown Court today (Monday October 14).

Here’s the lovely venue where the consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant, took place – the Wainwright Club in Hornby Road, Blackpool:

Cowen is a maths champion who first appeared on Countdown in 2017 and scored the third-highest total of the entire series. He managed a nine-letter word in ‘spreading’, and then appeared in 11 more episodes, winning eight consecutive times until he was beaten. No word on if the guy he stabbed is the same one who ended his 11-week Countdown reign, but I guess it would make sense.

There’s loads of jokes being made online about the victim being stabbed twice up top and three times in the bottom, but we’ll just leave you with today’s Countdown Conundrum:

======== BIGBANTS ========

For a look at what’s inside Countdown legend Rachel Riley’s DMs, click HERE. It’s about what you’d expect.