Countdown host rushed to hospital

Countdown host Richard Whiteley is today in a stable condition in hospital suffering from pneumonia.

The television star was taken to intensive care at Bradford Royal Infirmary after falling ill on Friday.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Television, which makes the Channel 4 quiz, said: "We can confirm Mr Whiteley has been taken ill and has got pneumonia. He is currently in a stable condition in hospital.

"All his colleagues and friends wish him well and hope he will soon be back behind the Countdown desk," she said. She added that the programme would continue to be screened as normal as it was recorded in advance, and that Countdown viewers would be unaffected.

Whiteley, 61, from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, has been presenting Countdown since it began in 1982. He received the OBE last year and the Queen is said to be a fan of the programme.