Countdown champion Mark Tournoff was given another crack of the whip when he was invited back to take part in the show for a second time.

As one of the show's biggest fans the 43-year-old Royal Mail worker, of Wilbury Avenue, Hove, was crowned king on the conundrums back in December 2004.

Viewers will have to wait until June to see if Mark will be the champion of champions after all the winners of previous shows were invited to compete against one another to take the ultimate title.

Yesterday, viewers saw Mark win the first show of the series, securing a place in the second round.

He said: "I have been watching Countdown ever since I was a student and I got into the habit of playing along at home and realised I could compete with most of the contestants. It became my ambition to get on the show.

"I love word games and numbers, it is almost as if the show was made for me."

Those contestants who were used to Richard Whiteley sitting in the quiz master's chair also had to get used to the show's new presenter Des Lynam.

Mark said: "Des and Richard were quite different but I got on well with both of them. Des has a laid-back style, and he is more subdued, but Richard was always clowning around. And Carol Vorderman was lovely too. She remembered us all from previous shows and we were all made to feel at ease."

Filming took three days and Mark and his girlfriend Sue Banfield, who sat in the audience, have told all their friends to tune in.

Mark is now putting his Countdown experiences down on paper and plans to publish a book about his time on the show.

He said: "They occasionally do specials and I would think there is every chance I would be invited back. If they did I would jump at the chance."