Who is Rachel Riley? Countdown star tweets she 'wouldn't wish Johnny Depp on her worst enemy'

Countdown star Rachel Riley recently called out Johnny Depp on social media amid his ongoing defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Riley recently shared a tweet thread by @arkhamcitysiren on Twitter that was titled, “Johnny Depp: a problematic history.”

She added her own caption, saying that she “wouldn't wish this guy [Johnny Depp] on her worst enemy.” Riley also backed up her tweet with a thread about the “myth of mutual abuse.”

The initial Twitter thread by @arkhamcitysiren highlighted several of Depp’s past controversies, including his friendship with Marilyn Manson, his alleged comments about Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski, his relationship with Winona Ryder and Polina Grey, his texts about Amber Heard to Paul Bettany and the various allegations of abuse against the actor that are at the centre of his defamation trial against Amber Heard.

The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation case began when the former sued Heard for $50 million following her 2018 Washington Post op-ed where she referred to herself as a "domestic abuse survivor." Although Depp was not directly named in the article, his team claimed that it harmed the actor’s public image and negatively affected his career. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million and claimed in her testimony that he indeed abused her on several occasions.

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Everything to know about Rachel Riley

Rachel Riley is a TV presenter, best known as the co-host of 'Countdown' (Image via rachelrileyrr/Instagram)

Rachel Riley is a TV presenter, best known for co-hosting her Channel 4 reality show Countdown as well as its spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. She was born on January 11, 1986, in Rochford, Essex.

Riley attended Thorpe Hall School and later joined Southend High School for Girls where she obtained four As at the A Level. She then earned an upper second-class honours degree in mathematics from Oriel College, Oxford.

The media personality made her TV debut with Countdown in 2009 at the age of 22. She replaced presenter Carol Vorderman and eventually garnered major popularity. She went on to present The Gadget Show alongside Jason Bradbury and ITV's It's Not Rocket Science alongside Romesh Ranganathan and Ben Miller.

Riley competed on Strictly Come Dancing with Pasha Kovalev in 2013 and was eliminated in the sixth week of the show. She joined Sky Sports to co-present Friday Night Football alongside Jeff Stelling and Fantasy Football Club with Paul Merson and Max Rushden in 2016. However, she left the former the following year.

The presenter has also appeared on TV shows like Celebrity Mastermind, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Chris Moyles,' Quiz Night, Virtually Famous, Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch, I Love My Country and Pointless Celebrities, among many others.

Prior to establishing a career in the media industry, Rachel Riley worked in finance. She interned at Deutsche Bank in London, and was also recruited by Royal Mail in 2009 to help advise tourists about making the most of their holiday currency.

The Essex-native was one of the celebrities to design and sign her own card for the UK-based charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children alongside Tom Hiddleston, Jo Brand, E. L. James and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Rachel Riley was previously married to her university sweetheart Jamie Gilbert, but the couple parted ways after nearly four years together. She later started dating her former reality show dance partner Pasha Kovalev. They tied the knot in 2019 and are proud parents to two children.