Countdown rules ‘leak on Twitter’ and reveal contestants are banned from saying please too often, have to pretend to clap and make sure they pronounce ‘consonant’ correctly
The popular Channel 4 gameshow has a surprising set of rules that contestants need to follow
COUNTDOWN rules have been 'leaked' on Twitter and reveal a surprising amount of things viewers are not allowed to do.
The Channel 4 game show has a legion of followers who love its gentle approach to words and number conundrums.
But behind-the-scenes, there is a strict code of dos and don'ts that contestants must adhere to.
A Twitter user shared a number of the funniest and surprising rules on Twitter on Friday, with the caption: "Rules for going on Countdown. These are 100% genuine."
Sharing screenshots of the printed rules, the first one was "don't say 'can I get'.
The instruction read: "When requesting letters or numbers from Rachel [Riley], please avoid using the expression "can I get", as this generates a large volume of complaints from viewers."
This point was reiterated a further two times at the end of the list, with cheeky 'P.S.' and 'P.P.S.' posts reading identically.
Another surprising request is that contestants don't say "please" too much.
The rules stated: "Contestants should avoid saying "please" too often when selecting letters.
"Once for the first letter and once for the last letter is probably best as we get complaints for no "pleases" and complaints for too many."
People taking part are also asked "when clapping, please just pretend to do so", because it can interfere with the sound, and they are warned that they need to pronounce "consonant" correctly.
The guide reads: "One last thing is pronunciation of the word "consonant". In the past, anything from "continent", "condiment" to "constanant" has been used, much to the irritation of viewers.
"Please try to say "consonant" as clearly as possible."
As well as what not to say, contestants are advised on how to dress for the show.
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Under the caption "no tramps", the Twitter user shared a section of text which read: "A dressing room is provided for you to change in before a recording. We do like our contestants to be dressed smartly, so an effort would be appreciated."
Another piece of text added: "Although everyone is given a dust over by make-up before the show for camera purposes, do not expect a complete transformation."
A final pointer tells contestants not to say hello to friends and family during the recording as it can slow things down and "makes for uninteresting television".
The Sun Online has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
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