Countdown - Monday 9th January 2023
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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:04APPLAUSE
00:31Hello, everybody. Welcome to Countdown this Monday afternoon.
00:34I hope your weekend was at least OK,
00:36as we welcome you to another very special week.
00:39Our champion of champions, we're going to complete our round of 16,
00:43and then on Thursday and Friday we have our first two quarter-finals,
00:47which sounds really exciting, Rachel Riley,
00:50but I have to say, they'll have to go some this week to beat last week,
00:54because it was all-time greatness.
00:57It was, but we're going to, you know, six more people who could contend
01:00to become the champion of this champion of champions, so...
01:03Yeah, they've got a lot to...
01:05They've got a high bar to meet, though, from last week's games, for sure.
01:08Absolutely. Memories made every single day on Countdown over now 41 years.
01:13We'll make some more today, and in Dictionary Corner,
01:16making sure not one single ineligible word scrapes by,
01:20is our J of the D, Susie Dent.
01:22And alongside her, well, we definitely know her favourite letter is M.
01:26Welcome back to Heather Small.
01:32When you made your debut in Dictionary Corner, I was so excited,
01:36and the day before I caught Covid, so this is great for me.
01:39Yeah, it was a tragedy for us both, but here we are now,
01:42and I can't wait to spend the week with you.
01:44Yes, that's what I want to do here.
01:46Well, both contestants today in this champion of champions
01:49are a sight for sore eyes,
01:51and they both have history that they bring with them.
01:54First of all, Martin May is back. How are you doing, sir?
01:56I'm very good, thank you.
01:58Do you know that nobody has ever won
02:01more regular season Countdown games than you?
02:05You hold the joint record of 15 in Countdown history.
02:08Tell us the story. How did you manage to win 15?
02:11So, I was on originally, I think, back in Series 56 and 57.
02:151954 was your first appearance.
02:17It was, yeah. I hide it well.
02:19And I had to retire for personal reasons, but I wasn't very well.
02:23And I, thankfully, was invited back.
02:26He, following Series, managed to win four games,
02:30and then came back for Series, I think it was 78,
02:33and managed to get all the way to the final.
02:35Brilliant. Well, you're up against today Luke Johnson-Davies,
02:39who is the champion of Series 82,
02:41so you come here with the O. You're unbeaten, right?
02:44Do you know in your finals,
02:45which for people that don't watch all the time,
02:47that would have been the end of the series,
02:49a quarterfinal, semifinal and final,
02:51do you know what you managed to achieve?
02:53Oh, everyone reminds me all the time, so I do know.
02:56I think I got every letters round next.
02:59Correct.
03:00So there was never, in any of your letters rounds,
03:04a round where the dictionary had a longer word than you?
03:07I mean, that's pretty lucky.
03:08Just to know a longest word in all those rounds,
03:10let alone spot it, that's very lucky.
03:13This sums up Countdown contestants and the Countdown family.
03:16It's always modesty.
03:17If I did, I'd have a T-shirt with it written on.
03:19It's not always modesty, it's just these ones are nice.
03:22Yeah. Oh, there's some terrible ones, we don't talk about those.
03:25That's tomorrow, your least favourite Countdown.
03:27Great and humble.
03:29Right, Martin and Luke, best of luck.
03:34Can't wait for them. Here we go. Martin, get us started.
03:37Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Rachel.
03:39Afternoon, Martin.
03:40Can I start with a consonant, please?
03:42Can you do? Start the week with L.
03:45And another?
03:47R.
03:48And a third?
03:50P.
03:52And a vowel?
03:53A.
03:55And another vowel?
03:56E.
03:58And another vowel?
03:59I.
04:01And a consonant?
04:03S.
04:05And a vowel?
04:07U.
04:10And a final vowel, please?
04:13A final E.
04:15At home and in the studio, let's play Countdown.
04:46Promising.
04:47Martin?
04:48Eight.
04:49And Luke?
04:50Eight as well, yeah.
04:51Yes, what's the eight, Martin?
04:52Pleasure.
04:53And what about yourself, Luke?
04:55Superior.
04:56Superior and pleasure.
04:59Hang on for dear life, Heather Small.
05:01There's not much need for a dictionary corner in Champion of Champions.
05:05Easiest money you'll ever make.
05:07Easiest 30 quid a day you'll ever make.
05:09Yeah, I feel special.
05:11Anything else?
05:13No, superior obviously is going to be in the dictionary
05:15because Luke said it.
05:17It means the same as superior.
05:19Yeah.
05:20And we had a couple of other eights, didn't we?
05:22Yeah.
05:23Espalier.
05:24Espalier, yeah, which is if you espalier fruit trees,
05:27you grow them flat against a sort of fence.
05:30I've never seen a flat fruit tree.
05:33Anyway.
05:34And pearlies.
05:35Pearlies, they're very famous.
05:36Like a trailer.
05:37So you said fruit, that's what threw me,
05:39and, you know, Heather Ivy that spreads up the side of a house,
05:42you know, that type of thing.
05:43I know about that.
05:44Well, that's not fruit.
05:45You're very right.
05:46It's not fruit.
05:47Thank you for clarifying that.
05:48Ivy is not fruit.
05:49Every day's a school day.
05:51Luke, let's get nine more letters.
05:53All right, thank you.
05:54Could I start with a consonant, please, Rachel?
05:56Thank you, Luke.
05:57R.
05:58And another one.
06:00T.
06:01And another.
06:03P.
06:04And another.
06:06B.
06:08And a vowel, please.
06:10A.
06:11And another.
06:12E.
06:13And another.
06:15U.
06:16And a consonant, please.
06:19F.
06:21And a final consonant, please.
06:24A final T.
06:2630 seconds.
06:38MUSIC PLAYS
06:57How did you get on, Luke?
06:59Stick with six.
07:00Yes, and Martin?
07:01Yeah, six as well.
07:02Six as well.
07:03What have you got, Luke?
07:04Upbeat.
07:05Upbeat, yes.
07:06Lovely words today so far.
07:07Brilliant.
07:08Both of you, upbeat.
07:09And quite a lot of sixes, I think, in there, Heather.
07:11I'm intrigued to see if there's anything better.
07:13Yes.
07:14No, we have six, but we have abroad,
07:16which I think is a good word.
07:18And batter.
07:19Batter.
07:20Yes, lots of sixes there,
07:22but we couldn't find the elusive seven.
07:24Excellent.
07:2514 points each.
07:27First numbers round of the day.
07:29Mr May, it's your choice.
07:32We'll start off nice and easy.
07:34Can I have one from the top and five of your choice, please?
07:37Well, you mean five little ones?
07:39Yes, please.
07:40That's never my choice.
07:41Never a free choice.
07:42One large, five little, you have to be precise.
07:44Thank you, Martin.
07:45Let's see if it's easy, like you requested.
07:47Little ones are six.
07:48Six, seven, eight.
07:50Seven and 50 might not be so easy.
07:53Let's have a look.
07:54The target, 741.
07:56Numbers up.
07:57MUSIC PLAYS
08:04MUSIC CONTINUES
08:28A little tricky. Martin, how did you do?
08:30Yes, 741.
08:31And Luke?
08:32741, but not completely written down.
08:34OK, you'll have to go first then, Luke.
08:36All right, so 7 plus 8 is 15.
08:3915.
08:40And 7 minus 6 is 1.
08:427 minus 6, 1.
08:44Take the 1 away from the 50.
08:4649.
08:47Times that by 15.
08:48Is 735.
08:50And add the other 6.
08:51Well done, 741.
08:53Martin?
08:548 times 7.
08:558 times 7, 56.
08:57Plus 50.
08:58106.
08:59Times 7.
09:00Times the second 7, 742.
09:01And 6 over 6 is 1.
09:02And take it away.
09:03Nicely done.
09:04741.
09:05APPLAUSE
09:0824 points each.
09:09Another delightful day of Champions Countdown here.
09:12So let's take our first Tea Time teaser, shall we?
09:14Opal Newt.
09:15Not Opal Fruits.
09:16Opal Newt.
09:17You can't go gliding without the help of this.
09:20You can't go gliding without the help of this.
09:23MUSIC PLAYS
09:32APPLAUSE
09:40Welcome back.
09:41Opal Newt.
09:42You can't go gliding without the help of this.
09:44It is, of course, a tow plane.
09:46And off to a flying start today with Martin and Luke.
09:49We expected no less.
09:5124 points each.
09:52Just want to get straight back to it.
09:54So, Luke, let's have more letters.
09:56All right, can I start with a consonant again, please, Rachel?
09:59Thank you, Luke.
10:00And another one.
10:02G.
10:03And another.
10:05S.
10:06And another.
10:08M.
10:09And a vowel, please.
10:11A.
10:12And another.
10:14E.
10:15And another.
10:16I.
10:18And a consonant, please.
10:20K.
10:22And a final consonant, please.
10:24And a final R.
10:26Thank you, Rachel.
10:30MUSIC PLAYS
10:57That is time, Luke.
10:59And Martin.
11:00Yeah, I'll have to risk a seven in that case.
11:02OK, Luke, what have you got?
11:03Imagery.
11:04If you have the same, it's not a risk.
11:06We'll see.
11:07Markies.
11:09It's not there, I'm afraid, Martin, sorry.
11:12Anything else for me?
11:13Heather Small?
11:15We have images.
11:16That's also a seven.
11:18Nothing bigger than that.
11:20That's all we could have had.
11:21They are champions of champions, remember.
11:23And there's going to be these tiny moments, you're right,
11:25that'll settle it either way.
11:26There'll be more to come, don't worry, Martin.
11:28And you're in charge of the letters.
11:30Can I have a vowel, please?
11:31Thank you, Martin.
11:32A.
11:33And another.
11:34E.
11:36And a consonant.
11:38N.
11:40And another.
11:42D.
11:43And a third.
11:45S.
11:47And a fourth.
11:49L.
11:51And a vowel.
11:53I.
11:55And another.
11:56O.
11:58And a final consonant, please.
12:01A final S.
12:03Here we go.
12:26MUSIC PLAYS
12:36I think this could be special. Martin?
12:38Hopefully a nine.
12:39Yeah, Luke?
12:40Yeah, a nine as well.
12:41Yeah, Luke, when you take a drink of water after seven seconds,
12:44that's a dead giveaway that it's going to be special.
12:47Let's see if they're the same nine. Martin?
12:49Er, nodalises.
12:50Nodalises. And Luke?
12:52Yep, the same word.
12:54Yeah.
12:55I'm not even going to check. 18 points each.
13:01Nodalise is to make nodal in forms.
13:05In other words, it's kind of concentrating things at certain points.
13:08Right, there you go. Two nines. We'd expect nothing less.
13:11Shall we go back to the numbers, then? Luke, do you want to have a go?
13:14Could I go for six more, please?
13:16You can indeed. Six little numbers coming up
13:19and hopefully more of a challenge than the first one.
13:23Right, we have ten, four, eight, six, two...
13:28Oh, all the evens definitely could be a challenge. Let's have a look.
13:31The target, 798.
13:34798, numbers up.
13:54CLOCK TICKS
14:07Even I had a drink of water that time. Luke?
14:09Yep, I've got it.
14:11And Martin?
14:12Yep, got it as well.
14:13Off you go, Luke.
14:14Ten times ten times eight minus two.
14:16Who'd have thought the six more would be even easier?
14:18Same way, Martin?
14:19Exactly the same.
14:20OK, same way.
14:2110 points each.
14:24Now, after waiting so long,
14:26I get to have my first proper chat with Heather Small.
14:29Don't take this the wrong way, right?
14:31I'm already afraid.
14:33There are certain singers who there's nobody else
14:36who has a voice like them, right?
14:38So Elvis, Elton John, your voice.
14:41But it means we all think we can do an Elvis
14:43or do a Heather Small, right?
14:46Obviously, we can't sing.
14:49You know, everyone can go,
14:51you can't be wrong, right?
14:53We've all...
14:54They can, but they might not be paid for doing so.
14:57But they can.
14:58I love it.
14:59That is the song that most people sing to me,
15:01moving on up, yeah, on a regular basis.
15:04The last person was Alison, Alison Hammond.
15:08Yeah, so, yeah, Moving On Up is the most popular.
15:12Even Dustmen sing Moving On Up to me.
15:16Yeah, I love it.
15:17If they're emptying the bins at seven in the morning,
15:19you don't want to hear that through your window.
15:22But Proud is a song that I think actually got to number 16
15:26when it was first released,
15:28but, you know, it's an absolute all-time classic song
15:32because it's used everywhere.
15:34Can you just tell me about some of the places
15:37that Proud has ended up?
15:39Well, a lot of choirs, a lot of schools
15:43and a lot of leaving dues for the schoolchildren
15:50when they have their last day at school,
15:52they sing Proud and they sing it in assembly.
15:54So that's what I'm most proud of,
15:56that there's young children who have been inspired by the song
15:59and it means something to them.
16:01But men's choirs have gone into churches.
16:05Oprah's used it.
16:07The Biggest Loser has used it.
16:10So it's really quite popular.
16:12The Olympics.
16:14It's been diverse and that's what I like about it
16:16because, you know, it's meant so much to different people
16:19and when it comes down to it, we're all the same
16:22and we're usually moved by the same things
16:25and music usually brings people together.
16:27Heather, it's so good. I can't wait for stories all week.
16:33Lovely. Back to the game then.
16:34Martin, you need to move on up by about seven points,
16:37so very little in it. Let's get some more letters.
16:39See what I can do. Can I start with a vowel, please?
16:41Thank you, Martin.
16:43E. And another.
16:45A. And a third.
16:47U.
16:49And a consonant.
16:51T. And another.
16:53C.
16:55And a third.
16:57T.
16:59And a vowel.
17:01I.
17:03And a consonant.
17:05G.
17:08And a final consonant, please.
17:12A final H.
17:14Eyes down.
17:38MUSIC STOPS
17:45There was no relaxing during that round from Martin and Luke.
17:48Martin? Just a six on that one.
17:50And Luke? Just six as well.
17:52Yeah, I'm going to guess it's the same word. Martin?
17:54Caught. Yes. Luke?
17:56I'll go with taught, then.
17:58Just to keep it interesting. Yes, caught and taught.
18:00You know, we've had a couple of really tricky rounds so far.
18:03Yeah, we certainly have. Just sixes. Anything else?
18:06We also have a six. It's catgut.
18:09Yes, catgut as is used in guitar strings and that kind of thing.
18:13Apparently never using cat's guts,
18:16but using the intestines of sheep or horses.
18:19Catgut. There you go.
18:21Let's swiftly move on and get another round of letters.
18:23Luke, Johnson, Davies, it's you.
18:25A consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Luke.
18:27R. And another one.
18:30N. And another.
18:33S. And another.
18:36G. And a vowel, please.
18:39E. And another.
18:41I. And another.
18:43E.
18:45And a consonant, please.
18:47S.
18:49And a final consonant, please.
18:52A final W. Half a minute.
19:03ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
19:25Excited about this round? Luke?
19:27Er, eight. Martin?
19:29Eight as well. OK, Luke, what's your word?
19:31I'll go with swingers.
19:33And Martin? I've also got swingers as well.
19:35Good. Well, you know, live and let live.
19:38That's what they say.
19:40Anything else you'd like to share with us?
19:42We also had swingers, but we've got another eight.
19:44Re-sewing. Re-sewing.
19:46There you go. A much more wholesome word. Yes.
19:49To use. OK. Eight points each.
19:51I thought we might have had another nine there,
19:53given the excellent standard, but nothing in the dictionary.
19:56So let's get our third numbers round of the day.
19:59Martin, it's on you. I say we'll go again.
20:01Can we get six small, please? Yes, get six small.
20:04Let's make this a competition.
20:06Seven points in it. Let's see if anything will change after.
20:10Four, six, five, two, six and eight.
20:16And the target to reach, 809.
20:19809. Numbers up.
20:29ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
20:51Heck of a challenge. Martin?
20:53Yeah, 806. Yeah, Luke?
20:55808 not written down. Off you go.
20:58So, we have six minus two is four.
21:02Mm-hm. Times that by the other four.
21:0416. Times that by one of the sixes.
21:07By the second 696.
21:09Add five.
21:11101. And times by the eight.
21:1341 away.
21:15Can we get to 809? No.
21:17That was impossible. That was the best you could have done.
21:19So you've maxed another round. Well done.
21:21So we can applaud that? Yep. Brilliant.
21:24APPLAUSE
21:28ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
21:35APPLAUSE
21:42Welcome back to Countdown.
21:44This Monday afternoon, our Champion of Champions.
21:4614 points in it between Martin and Luke.
21:48A place in the Champion of Champions quarter-finals at stake.
21:52All would turn like that on a nine-letter word.
21:54Let's see if it comes now. Luke, let's get some letters.
21:57A consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Luke.
21:59L. And another.
22:02G. And another.
22:05L. And another.
22:08C. And a vowel, please.
22:11I. And another.
22:14E. And another.
22:17A. And another.
22:20I. And another vowel, please.
22:23Lastly, E.
22:25Here we go.
22:56That is time. Luke?
22:58Seven. Martin? No, just six on that one.
23:01Martin, what's the six?
23:03Alleg. Pretty tell what the seven is.
23:05Allegiac. Oh.
23:07Elegiac. I think we would normally say,
23:09but it's absolutely brilliant. Well done, Luke.
23:11Should we disallow it because he mispronounced it?
23:14It means wistfully mournful. It's very beautiful.
23:17I'm going to go out and allege, Heather,
23:19and say that was the longest word in the dictionary from those nine letters.
23:22I would say so, and it's exactly what we have.
23:24Yes.
23:26Big seven points that for Luke at this stage.
23:28The business end of today's countdown.
23:30Martin, nine more letters, my friend.
23:33Consonant, please. Thank you, Martin.
23:35N. And another.
23:38T. And another.
23:41B. And a vowel.
23:44A. And another.
23:47E. And a third.
23:49And a third. O.
23:52And a fourth.
23:55A.
23:57And a consonant.
23:59T.
24:02And a final consonant, please.
24:05A final V.
24:07Clink time.
24:19CLINKING
24:40And that is time, Martin.
24:42I'll stick with the six. OK, and Luke?
24:45Yeah, just six. OK, what have you got, Martin?
24:47Novate and Luke.
24:49And I'll go with navator.
24:51Yes, it is from archaeology.
24:55And navator, or navita, I think,
24:58is a type of Bronze Age megalithic chambered tomb
25:01that's shaped like an upturned boat.
25:03Anything else?
25:05Oh, no, we only have sixes ourselves.
25:07Baton, nothing as elaborate as that word there.
25:10All right, let's take a little pause,
25:12because the laryngitis has cleared enough.
25:15The doctor has said it's OK to bring origins of words back.
25:19We are safe, but watch out for any phlegm here, Heather.
25:22Oh, no. Keep your distance.
25:24I need to get voice advice from Heather, actually,
25:26because you must be a pro at trying to conserve your voice.
25:29I'm going to keep this one quite short
25:31and try and answer a question from Elizabeth Nassim,
25:34who asks about the origin of being in cahoots with someone.
25:38It's such a great word, cahoots, I think.
25:40And, obviously, it means working in collusion with them.
25:43We do know it's an American expression,
25:45so it was first recorded in the early 19th century,
25:48in the sense of illegal partnership,
25:50no sort of sense of conspiracy.
25:52It was just quite neutral, really.
25:54But it has shifted to mean a sense of dishonesty, really,
25:57and to imply that people are conspiring for nefarious reasons.
26:01Not completely sure where it comes from.
26:03Some etymologists believe it's from the French word cahoot,
26:06meaning a hut or a cabin.
26:08So the idea would be that people are huddling together
26:12in a small environment.
26:13And if you remember, conspire has that same sense behind it.
26:16Spirare in Latin is to breathe,
26:18and the idea is that you're breathing closely with someone
26:21to try and plot.
26:23Another suggestion is that it's an alteration of cohort.
26:26Again, the idea of people working closely together.
26:30So, two possible origins there. I like the idea of the hut.
26:33Love it. Good to have the origins back.
26:38Right, four more rounds left in today's Countdown, which is a shame.
26:41I could play all afternoon, but them's the rules, Luke.
26:44Let's get more letters. Consonant, please, Rachel.
26:46Thank you, Luke. M.
26:48And another.
26:50F. And another.
26:52R. And another.
26:55J. And a vowel, please.
26:58O. And another.
27:01I. And another.
27:04A. And another vowel, please.
27:07I.
27:09And a final consonant, please.
27:11Final M.
27:13Start the clock.
27:39It's another tricky round. Luke?
27:41I think I have a six.
27:43And Martin?
27:45I definitely don't, so I'll risk a seven.
27:47OK, brilliant. Luke, the six?
27:49Romaji.
27:51Martin?
27:53Imager.
27:55How are you spelling with two M's there?
27:57Yes. OK.
27:59So, first of all, Romaji is there.
28:01It's a system of Romanised spelling.
28:03It's used to transliterate Japanese quite often.
28:07You're building the tension brilliantly here, Susie.
28:09There is no imager. I'm afraid, Martin. Sorry.
28:12That's all right. Right, Martin, let's get nine more letters.
28:15Not all is lost yet.
28:17Can I start with a consonant, please?
28:19Thank you, Martin. G.
28:21And another.
28:23R. And a third.
28:26N. And a vowel.
28:29O. And another.
28:32E. And a third.
28:36A. And a consonant.
28:40S. And another consonant.
28:44T.
28:46And it'll have to be a vowel, please.
28:48Looks like a good selection.
28:50A final E.
28:52Last letters.
29:05ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
29:24That's time, Martin.
29:26I feel like there's a nine there, but I'm going to go for eight.
29:28OK. Luke, do you feel like there's a nine?
29:30I don't feel like there's a nine, just eight.
29:32How about you, Martin? I feel better.
29:34Ragstone. And Luke?
29:36I'll go with Sargent. Lovely.
29:38Yeah, ragstone is a hardcore sedimentary rock
29:40that can be broken into slabs.
29:42Sargent, excellent, too.
29:44Anything else? We've got reagents, which is an eight.
29:46Wonderful stuff. Right, it's 107 plays, 80,
29:49so let's just pause for a second
29:51and welcome Luke to the quarterfinals. Well done.
29:53Thank you so much.
29:55Wonderful stuff. Let's get more numbers over.
29:58Last numbers round. Luke, you're picking.
30:01Yes, come on! You want a little bit of a rest.
30:03It never works like that, though.
30:05You'll probably have something very difficult.
30:07Right, final numbers of the day.
30:095, 1, 10, 5, 3 and 100.
30:15And the target... Oh, fair enough.
30:18195. 195, last numbers.
30:21ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
30:30ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES
30:51Easy pickings for these two, Luke.
30:53Yeah, 195. Martin?
30:55Yeah, I think I can stretch to that, too.
30:57Yeah, brilliant, getting our ten points in the bank.
30:59Luke, let's have it. All right, so 10 over 5 is 2.
31:01There's the hard bit.
31:03Times that by 100 and take away the other 5.
31:05Hopefully your heart survived that round.
31:07Martin, did you keep it simple?
31:09Absolutely. Yeah, I just did 5 minus 3 to get the 2,
31:11and then otherwise it's exactly the same.
31:13All right, ten points each.
31:17Now, the standard of the Countdown Conundrum
31:19has went through the roof for champion of champions
31:22and just right as well, so even for the creme de la creme,
31:25it's been quite difficult so far.
31:27So this is kind of like a little mini challenge.
31:29Fingers on the buzzers. Thank you, Martin.
31:31Thank you, Luke.
31:33Let's reveal today's Countdown Conundrum.
31:35ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
31:58BUZZER
32:01Martin?
32:03I'll have a stab at it. Milo total.
32:05Let's have a look and see if you're right.
32:07You are not. Rest of the time, Luke.
32:13BUZZER
32:15I did warn you. I did warn you.
32:17Let's have a look.
32:19Oh! What?! We eat those.
32:21What is it?
32:23It's actually... It must be related to the tomatoes,
32:25but it is also related to the Cape gooseberry.
32:27It's purple or yellow, used in sauces and preserves.
32:29Well, it's left a bitter taste in all of our mouths.
32:31Yeah.
32:33Nobody managed to get it.
32:35Martin, I think you did brilliant today.
32:37I think if this was a diving competition,
32:39the tariff was really high, wasn't it, in each round?
32:41Absolutely, yeah.
32:43Tricky letter, so 90's, 90's, brilliant.
32:45I feel a little sad here, because you've been on twice,
32:47so you can't reapply.
32:49No-one's allowed to come on three times.
32:51And this is the champion of champions,
32:53so when's that going to happen again?
32:55This is it.
32:57It is, but do you know what?
32:59It's a really good way to go out.
33:01I've got a lot further than I thought I was going to.
33:03To get to a series final was beyond my expectations.
33:05To come back or be invited back for the champion of champions
33:07is phenomenal, and to come up against a player like Luke
33:09is...
33:11A player who's really willing to test themselves
33:13is a dream to play someone like Luke,
33:15and he thoroughly deserved to win.
33:17Some really, really good spots.
33:19Luke, you're staying in the hotel.
33:21It's great to see you win today,
33:23and you could win this, absolutely.
33:25We can't pick a winner.
33:27I'm just going to try and enjoy myself,
33:29because there's some great players, and who knows?
33:31On that note, I don't know how enjoyable
33:33your quarterfinal's going to be.
33:35What a coin toss we have.
33:37Ahmed Mohamed you're playing against.
33:39I know, and I'm friends with him outside the show as well,
33:41so it's going to be really fun, to be honest.
33:43Heather, have fun.
33:45Yes, totally.
33:47It's great to be with such a mind.
33:49Thank you, you two. Fantastic.
33:51What day?
33:53I know I pick a winner after every game,
33:55but I really think the winner of Ahmed versus Luke
33:57could win the whole thing. I've said it.
33:59One record.
34:01And you'll say it again tomorrow.
34:03No, that's it. I'm not changing my mind.
34:05This could go anywhere between now and next Friday's grand final.
34:07One step at a time. We'll see you tomorrow.
34:09Rachel, Susie and I will be here. You can count on us.
34:11APPLAUSE
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