Countdown's Susie Dent is coming to Wrexham - here's when

Leader Live

19-07-2025

She is bringing her new tour 'Word Perfect' to Wrexham's William Aston Hall on August 23.
For someone whose life revolves around a true love of the English language and who is razor-sharp at deciphering the whimsies of our mother tongue, Susie Dent doesn't seem like the sort of person to be tripped up by the simple things.
But she admits she has been stumped, albeit on the rare occasion.
Countdown co-presenter and Queen of Dictionary Corner for more than 30 years, Susie – who will hit the road with her all-new second 26-date tour Word Perfect this summer – has many fond memories of her time on the show and recalls one particularly amusing moment.
She said: 'I was doing some work on the tour the other day, and I was reminiscing about Richard Whiteley, when one of my most embarrassing moments came back to me.
'The letters had been selected, the clock had ticked down, and a contestant offered their five-letter word. I didn't quite catch what they said, so I asked them to spell it, which they duly did: D. O. I. N. G. In my head this translated to 'doi-ng' to rhyme with 'boing', so I proceeded to look it up. Until Richard saved my bacon by chipping in with 'It's do-ing Susie'.'
Susie turned down the offer to join the team of Oxford University Press lexicographers who took turns in Dictionary Corner three times, but a persistent boss wouldn't let it lie.
She said: 'It wasn't on my bucket list to be on TV; I'm happiest when I'm below the radar! But now I'm so grateful my audition was successful. As for my first appearance, I said as little as possible! There is a clip online of that first show, when I sat next to Rula Lenska and looked utterly frozen.
'I will be forever amazed, and grateful, that they kept me on. After about 10 years, Richard and Carol wanted a full-time lexicographer within the team, and happily I ended up alongside them as a permanent fixture.'
But for someone who had no inclination to appear on TV, Susie has a very clear place in her heart for the Channel 4 tea-time words and numbers quiz and its Friday-night naughtier sibling 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
She said: '8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown has reminded many of those people who grew up with the show of the joy of the game, and of course it's brought in the laughs to go with it.
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'The real beauty of Countdown is its format. Anybody who watches it can understand the rules of the game within minutes and then join in to play along – no matter what their age or ability. Even with the comedy version, people do still love to play the game.
'Many of our contestants watched the show with their parents and grandparents, and so it has that real connection with family, too.
'After 33 years I still feel the adrenaline as the clock starts to tick down. It really is one of the biggest joys of my life. My feet will stay under the table in Dictionary Corner for as long as viewers will have me!'
In her new tour Word Perfect, she is looking forward to taking audiences on a 'romp through some of the joys of the English language', looking at specific words and their stories, as well as many of the quirks which make our mother tongue so brilliantly unpredictable as well as magical.
Speaking about her new tour, Susie said: 'The English language will never stop surprising and delighting me: It is as wayward as it is majestic, while the dictionary is as full of magic, drama and adventure as you will find anywhere.
'I can't wait to walk down some more of its secret alleyways with the Word Perfect audiences, and to hear their own questions about our curious mother tongue! We're going to have a lot of fun.
Susie's tour, which will run from August 19 through until January 24, will coincide with the launch of her next two books, Words For Life and her children's book Roots We Share: 100 Words That Bring Us Together.