TV QUIZ Countdown has had its first ever black winner.

Ahmed Mohamed, 27, won series 84 of the show, in a nail-biting grand final – which aired on Channel 4 on December 23. 

Mr Mohamed from Tottenham, north London, said he is delighted to have made history. 

Speaking exclusively to The Voice, he said: “When I first applied, that was the first actual goal in my mind, that was the first thing I wanted to do.

“I wanted to be the first black champion of Countdown and I am so proud to have achieved that.” 

Mr Mohamed said he did rigorous research before applying and discovered there had never been a black winner on the popular daytime quiz show – which has been on TV since in 1982. 

“I went through all the theories and looked at all the previous winners and there wasn’t a black champion and that was one of my main motivations for applying,” he added.

The 27-year-old’s win is even more significant because he became champion, while the TV programme was hosted by its first black host Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, who is currently standing in for regular host Rachel Riley – who is on maternity leave. 

According to Mr Mohamed, Dr Imafidon told him he was the show’s first black winner after his final winning performance.

She also took to Twitter to congratulate him and tweeted: “Congratulations. What a contestant, what a set of performances. What a set of centuries. What great hair & vibes.” 

She finished her message with a series of hashtags that summarised the historic moment, tweeting: “#LondonForTheWin #WorthyWinner #MakingHistory #TakingOver.”

Mr Mohamed, who is of Sudanese heritage, hopes his time on the show will inspire more people from the black community to apply to be contestants on the daytime words and numbers quiz show. 

He added: “If you watch the show day in, day out, you hardly ever see black contestants and when you do, it makes you feel represented.”

The series 84 winner, began watching Countdown 12 years ago and was inspired after seeing a teenage contestant doing extremely well on the show. 

He joined a popular online community, where previous winners and budding contestants play online. 

When he was 17, he played as an amateur online for three years and was ranked second out of thousands of players on the site, which made him a “big name in the community.”

He told The Voice, when he was 20, he stopped playing online and found other interests but his mother continuously encouraged him to go on the show. 

He said: “My mum was always telling me to apply and go on the show, but I told her no and was a bit hesitant at first.” 

His turning point came when he was watching an episode of the show June 2021 and playing along at home and realised that he was constantly beating the contestant. 

He said: “Playing along and seeing how well I was doing gave me the courage and confidence to eventually apply. 

“After watching the episode and playing along at home, I realised I still had it and I bit the bullet and just applied.”  

Mr Mohamed revealed to The Voice, he had just two months to prepare before filming and discovered the show had implemented a new dictionary, which meant there were thousands of new words he had to learn. 

He admits he did feel a bit of pressure because he was already “known” in the community and if he did appear on the show there was an “expectation” for him to do well.

He said: “Those two months were proper stressful and I was unemployed at the time, which gave me extra time to practice. 

“I utilised every moment practising various maths problems, studying the dictionary and playing online against people and the computer, it was a great way to prepare.” 

With this great achievement under his belt, Mr Mohamed now hopes to pursue his career.

He has a keen interest in social issues, journalism and computer programming and is currently job searching. 

Countdown was the first show to appear on Channel 4 in 1982. 

The Voice has contact Countdown for comment.