Four-year-old Acer Gibson aces Countdown puzzles, eyes Rachel Riley's job after viral clip

One four-year-old boy is aiming for the top job on Countdown after dazzling the internet by solving puzzles in seconds from his living room. Acer Gibson, filmed by his father as host Rachel Riley presented the show's numbers game, beat contestants to the solution and drew millions of views as the clip circulated on social media.

From a home in Shepshed, near Loughborough, Acer completed the round in about 15 seconds. The video has since racked up more than 30 million views, turning the preschooler into a surprising internet sensation. Riley told The Sunday Times that Acer could one day come for her job. "I’ll have to watch my back in a few years," the host said. Liam Gibson, Acer's father and an entrepreneur, said Riley had reached out to the family to pass on a special challenge for Acer.

Asked what he would like to be when he grows up, Acer told his family that he wants to do the numbers on the Countdown show and take Riley's job. His talent has also drawn the attention of Jase Cullen, a Countdown Octochamp who has won eight heats and earned a place in the series finals; he contacted the family and offered to provide age-appropriate tips for the letters game. In the viral clip, Acer can be seen repeating each number as it is drawn before listing a sequence of sums and arriving at the target of 622 — all before the clock chimed. His father could be seen congratulating him and encouraging him to clap his hands in celebration.

There was no such maths prowess on show from the contestants themselves, as neither managed to solve the puzzle in time.

Behind the spectacle is Acer’s rapid ascent in early childhood. By the age of one he could count from one to ten and back again, and by two he could recite his parents’ phone numbers. The family began introducing him to arithmetic with toy vegetables to teach times tables, and by three he was writing down the square root of numbers such as 196. Liam Gibson has explained that he dropped out of school at 16 to work making bricks, but always had an aptitude for mental arithmetic and wanted to give Acer the chance to get ahead before school.

The video’s rapid spread illustrates the broader fascination with prodigies and the enduring appeal of Countdown, a show that has cultivated a devoted audience for decades. While Acer’s performance on a single clip does not predict future appearances, the outpouring of attention — including direct messages from the show’s figures and fans alike — underscores how a moment of rapid calculation from a living room can resonate across generations and platforms.

As the year ends, Acer Gibson’s viral moment stands as a reminder of how quickly a child’s talent can become a conversation topic worldwide, and how news and entertainment lines increasingly blur in the digital age.