My word! Teen taking Countdown by storm
A TEENAGE genius who watched Countdown to flex his mental muscles because he was bored at school, has stormed into the final of the TV game show.
Gifted Jasamrit Rahala stunned Channel 4 viewers last week by winning seven games.
And it’s not the first time the 17-year-old has wowed TV audiences.
He first came to public attention aged 10, when he was the runner-up on Child Genius, also on Channel 4.
Then, two years ago, he joined forces with dad Santokh, and his cousin, Parvon, for the ITV contest Britain’s Brightest Family. They were eliminated in the first round after going out the night before filming.
Jasamrit is tight-lipped about how he got on in Countdown’s finals, which have been filmed but won’t be screened until December, after being sworn to secrecy by TV bosses.
Scholarship
But while on the show he cheekily asked co-presenter, Oxford graduate Rachel Riley, 35, for advice on which university to go for. Jasamrit revealed: “She recommended choosing the one that has the best kebab shops.”
Now hooked on quiz show success, he plans to apply for Mastermind and Only Connect when he turns 18.
And he dreams of making it on to legendary BBC brainbox show University Challenge.
Amazingly, despite having 12 GCSEs – one at age 12 – and an Eton scholarship, Jasamrit does not think he is that clever.
But he admitted that as a smart seven-year-old, he finished school work well before his classmates. When he got home he turned on Countdown for mental stimulation.
Jasamrit – who sailed through the adult Mensa test at 11 – said: “It provided the challenge that wasn’t there at primary school. I was able to solve the puzzles quickly. It came naturally. I wouldn’t consider myself clever. I just say I take the opportunities when I get them. I think everyone’s clever in their own way.”
Santokh, 55, says he did not realise how bright his son was at first because, “I had to work every day under the sun to make ends meet”.
But after hearing Jasamrit call out answers to the first Child Genius series, he entered him for the second.
The youngster went on to be offered partial scholarships at five private secondary schools, but his family could not afford to send him anywhere they had to pay fees.
Santokh recently started working at the Department for Work and Pensions after losing his job as a drinks buyer during the pandemic.
His wife Sardeep, 49, is a part-time NHS healthcare assistant.
The family live in a modest two-up two-down in Slough, Berkshire.
Luckily, at 13, Jasamrit won a prestigious King’s Scholarship to Eton, following in the esteemed footsteps of Boris Johnson and University Challenge’s original quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne.
The school is covering all of his fees. In his spare time the teenager plays the violin, runs maths competitions and gives online lessons about artificial intelligence.
His sister Tania, 12, is also academically bright and passed the 11-plus.