Rachel, 35, has co-presented TV’s Countdown for 13 years. She lives in London and is married to dancer Pasha Kovalev, her accomplice on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013. They’ve two daughters, Maven, two, and new child Noa.
I did not realise I used to be a perfectionist, punishing myself for errors, till I did Strictly. At one stage I felt like I wasn’t current in my physique.
One week I used to be within the dance-off and the fast step went a bit incorrect, which I couldn’t cease eager about.
The following week when the music began on the rehearsal Pasha checked out my face and mentioned: ‘Are you there?’
Rachel, 35, residing in London, has co-presented TV’s Countdown for 13 years She is married to dancer Pasha Kovalev, her 2013 Strictly Come Dancing accomplice
If you’re underneath stress, your mind can file reminiscences within the incorrect place. One thing that shouldn’t be worrying you comes again. You relive it and it turns into far larger than it really was.
Pasha urged cognitive behavioural remedy (CBT). It helped him hand over smoking after two periods. So I noticed psychologist Michael Carthy who helps individuals who have to offer speeches.
I’m not a pure presenter. Once I started Countdown after learning maths at Oxford I’d by no means achieved drama.
So each time I made a little bit slip on TV, for me it turned vastly exaggerated.
After two CBT periods, I used to be calmer. It’s taught me to ask earlier than doing something: ‘What could be end result?’ Earlier than, I by no means even had a benchmark of what I wished to realize. So that you’re by no means going to be pleased with something.
I’ve additionally learnt to fret solely about issues that shall be vital in 5 years’ time.
Remedy wasn’t normal once I was younger, however making an attempt it as an grownup, you realise how good it’s.
I’ve handed the message on to my feminine mates as a result of, because the product of an all-girls’ grammar faculty, we’re excessive achievers, used to specializing in what goes incorrect, whereas by no means seeing the great issues we’ve achieved.
Which is why I’m so obsessed with selling maths positivity for girls. It’s a helpful life lesson to understand you possibly can educate your self to assume in another way, and see the positives in what you do.
At Sixes And Sevens: How To Perceive Numbers And Make Maths Straightforward, by Rachel Riley (£14.99, HarperCollins), is out now.