Quiz queen Carol Vorderman is on a mission to boost brains across Britain.
And the former Countdown star’s new online adventure has already attracted around six million participants since its launch last month.
Called Perfect 10, it’s a podcast that offers a daily fix for addicts of riddles and puzzles – and you don’t have to be a genius to enjoy it.
“It is a little detox for your brain… a little workout testing different things,” says Carol, 62.
“It is fast and funny, involves lateral thinking, memory, a listening test and a daily riddle, so there is something there for everyone.”
The success off Perfect 10 seems guaranteed as we are a nation of quiz addicts. From the morning Wordle puzzle to our teatime fix of The Chase, around 35 million of us are believed to lap up quiz and trivia games each day, with 75% aged between 15 and 24.
Scroll down for examples of some of Carol's questions
Carol – who was the maths whizz on Channel 4 ’s Countdown for 26 years – says: “Obviously I am passionate about quizzes. They are hugely popular but I realised there wasn’t really one like this, in this format.
“It’s one you can do every day – on your commute, in your coffee break – that you can also share with your friends.
“I didn’t want it to be too hard, like Mastermind… that would involve specialist knowledge. You don’t need to be a genius to do this at all or have a lot of general knowledge.”
Carol makes sure there’s something for everyone every day – and admits she doesn’t always know all the answers.
She created Perfect 10 with the help of Russ Lindsay, the former husband of late Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating. They spent about a year perfecting a winning formula.
Their podcast has since had more than six million views on TikTok and Instagram – and there’s even talk of a TV show spin-off.
Carol admits she doesn’t always score that Perfect 10 when she gives it a go. “I average around seven,” she says.
“I often think afterwards with some of the questions, ‘God, I knew that’. You are allowed to pause it but you can’t go looking things up or Googling. That’s cheating.
“It’s a bit of fun – a way to pass 10 minutes of your day.
“Some of the questions will have you kicking yourself because they are so obvious, really… things you see or read every single day of your life yet when you are asked to recall them you can’t always do it. I find the daily riddle hard but the more lateral-thinking questions and maths questions easier, as that is how my brain works. But we are all different.”
Can you beat Quiz Queen Carol and score a Perfect 10 with her selection of quizzes from the podcast?
QUIZ ONE QUESTIONS
1) Solve this anagram: Which actor looks fine in torn jeans?
2) If Romeo and Juliet go together, what other dance goes with foxtrot?
3) If Lucy was 13 in 2002, how old would she be in 2034?
4) Which Apollo mission carried the first astronauts to land on the Moon? It happened on 20 July 1969 – but what was its number?
5) How many lanes are there in a swimming pool approved by the Olympic Games?
6) Who were the mouse-like creatures who lived on a moon in a classic children’s TV series?
7) Which letter can you change in the word “value” to find something dear to your heart?
8) What is Britain’s most expensive house?
9) What belongs to me, but is mostly said by other people?
10) How many squares make up the logo for Greggs?
QUIZ TWO QUESTIONS
1) Which 1981 event had 28.4 million TV viewers in the UK alone?
2) What number follows this sequence? 2, 3, 5, 9, 17... and then what?
3) Passat, Polo and Taigun are all cars made by which manufacturer?
4) On TV, which title character has fought off enemies such as the Weeping Angels, The Silence and
the Zygons?
5) What two letters can you take away from the word ‘crown’ to make a disagreement?
6) How many Prime Ministers served during the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II?
7) Three different doctors said Paul is their brother yet Paul says he doesn’t have any brothers - how can this be?
8) What’s special about the letters in the word ‘hotshots’?
9) What is the highest number under 50 which has all of its letters in alphabetical order?
10) What three colours are mentioned in the 1982 song by Karma Chameleon by Culture Club?
QUIZ THREE QUESTIONS
1) Robert Downing Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch and Will Ferrell have all played which famous British literary character?
2) How many blue dashes are under the Tesco logo?
3) What letter can you take away from the word ‘haunt’ to make a word that also means to search?
4) On a standard keyboard, what’s unusual about the letters F and J?
5) If you were my brother, but I am not your brother, who am I?
6) What comes next in this sequence of numbers: A million, a billion, a trillion… and then what?
7) Adele’s first four albums are called 19, 21, 25 and 30. What does those numbers add up to?
8) Can you name the founder of the first KFC restaurant in 1930?
9) The liver bird appears on the emblem of which Premier League football team?
10) New York, Paris and which other place appears on the side of Del Boy’s iconic three-wheeled van in the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses?
QUIZ FOUR QUESTIONS
1) Which letter can you change in the word ‘whale’ to make something in its entirety?
2) What’s the largest number with just one syllable in its name?
3) Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter.
What is it?
4) What occurs once in a year, twice in a week, but never in a day?
5) What does the ‘HP’ in HP Sauce stand for?
6) Which two colours are on the hat and jumper of Where’s Wally?
7) Which letter can you change in the word ‘warp’ to make something that you might catch in a rod?
8) Apparently David Beckham is an ornithophobe. So what does he fear?
9) When these are bright, we sing. When they are dark, we clap.
What are they?
10) Which three-letter word written forwards means the top of everything, but when written backwards is definitely something deep?
QUIZ FIVE QUESTIONS
1) What colour are the benches in the House of Commons?
2) How many blocks does a traditional-sized 46g Yorkie Bar have?
3) The electronics giant Samsung began in which country?
4) In which sci-fi film franchise did the DeLorean car famously feature?
5) Which letter can you change in the word ‘nature’ to make something you do as you get older?
6) Which film producer has won the most Oscars?
7) Morrissey always uses his; Elvis used his a lot but didn’t have to; the Pope certainly doesn’t use his, ever. What is it?
8) Which letter comes next in this Roman numeral sequence: V, X, L, C, D and then... which letter?
9) How many recognised states are there in the USA?
10) How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?
QUIZ ONE ANSWERS
1) Jennifer Aniston 2) Tango 3) 45 4) Apollo 11 5) Ten 6) The Clangers 7) Valve 8) Buckingham Palace 9) Your name 10) Four.
QUIZ TWO ANSWERS
1) The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana 2) Thirty-three 3) Volkswagen 4) Doctor Who 5) C and N - to make ‘row’ 6) Fifteen 7) All of those three doctors are Paul’s sisters 8) Hotshots has the same four letters repeated 9) Forty 10) Red, gold and green
QUIZ THREE ANSWERS
1) Sherlock Holmes 2) Five 3) A – to make the word ‘hunt’ 4) They have ridges on them to give touch typists the optimum position without having to look down 5) I am your sister 6) A quadrillion 7) Ninety-five 8) Colonel Sanders 9) Liverpool
0) Peckham
QUIZ FOUR ANSWERS
1) A to O – to make the word ‘whole’ 2) Twelve 3) The letter R 4) The letter E 5) Houses of Parliament 6) Red and white 7) W to C to make ‘carp’ 8) Birds 9) Birthday candles 10) Tip
QUIZ FIVE ANSWERS
1) Green 2) Five 3) South Korea 4) Back to The Future 5) N to M to make the word ‘mature’ 6) Walt Disney 7) Their surnames 8) M, for the number 1,000 9) Fifty 10) Three
If you want to pitch your wits against Carol every day, Perfect 10 is scheduled to run for 50 weeks on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Google Podcasts.
