rachel riley
Rachel Riley quits Sky Sports job Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images

Rachel Riley is usually a hit with television viewers as the brainbox fashionista on Countdown, but after experiencing online trolling by Tottenham fans, she has kicked her TV football punditry career into the stands.

The 31-year-old English television presenter and mathematician suffered "hideous" personal abuse after viewers misunderstood a remark she made following a crucial loss for Tottenham at the end of last season.

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The online hate led Oxford graduate Riley – who joined Countdown aged 22 – to step down from Sky Sports' Friday Night Football which she hosted with ex-Countdown presenter Jeff Stelling after less than a year.

Despite being a bit of a national treasure, Manchester United fan Riley caused offence with her comments on Spurs' Premier League disappointment after they lost 1-0 at West Ham.

The blonde presenter said on camera: "It's deja vu for Spurs isn't it, a proper bottle job".

Spurs fans took the comment as in Riley claiming teammates were a bottle job, with the Countdown star later having to explain herself.

After receiving hate on social media and Spurs fan raising her comments with Sky Sports' bosses, Riley tweeted in her defence.

She wrote: "Personal abuse is hideous. For the record I didn't say Spurs are bottle jobs but tonight's game was a test of nerve. I said the game was a bottle job. Not the same as calling the team bottle jobs as is being circulated."

Riley and Sky have since mutually decided to not renew her 12-month contract for another season, and her hosting role on Sky's Fantasy Football Club with Max Rushden and Paul Merson is up in the air.

Since popularising maths and the sciences, Riley has gone on to co-present The Gadget Show on Channel 5, It's Not Rocket Science on ITV, as appeared on Strictly Come Dancing where she met current boyfriend, dancer Pasha Kovalev.