Clive Spate is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 contestant

Contestant

A contestant is someone who takes part in a competition, usually a professional competition or a game show on television. The participants competing against each other have to go through rounds...

. He was the winner of the eighth series of Countdown

Countdown (game show)

Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...

and has won many other TV quizzes, including the 2003 series Grand Slam

Grand Slam (TV Series)

Grand Slam is a television quiz show first created for Britain's Channel 4 in 2003. In its first and only series in the UK, the main host was Carol Vorderman. She was joined in the studio by analyst James Richardson...

, a contest between previous quiz show champions which also featured Olav Bjortomt

Olav Bjortomt

Stein Olav Bjortomt is an England international quiz player. He was the winner of the inaugural 2003 individual World Quizzing Championships, in the absence of Kevin Ashman when it was a fledgling event with then only 45 participants...

, Mark Labbett

Mark Labbett

Mark Labbett is a personality in the UK quiz scene. He attended Exeter College, Oxford University, graduating with a degree in Mathematics...

, Graham Nash

Graham Nash (Countdown)

Graham Nash is Countdown's 43rd Champion and the 11th Champion of Champions. His current record stands at 15 wins out of 15; one of only two unbeaten champions in the show's history...

 and David Edwards, among others.

Spate is also a former tournament Scrabble

Scrabble

Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...

 player. He was the top rated UK player in 1991, 1994 and 1995. He competed at the World Scrabble Championship

World Scrabble Championship

The World Scrabble Championship is the most prestigious title in competitive English-language Scrabble. It has been held every second year since 1991. The current World Scrabble Champion is Nigel Richards...

 in 1993, finishing ninth out of sixty-four. The winner that year was Countdown Champion of Champions, Mark Nyman

Mark Nyman

Mark Nyman is a Scrabble player originally from London, England now resident in Cheshire. At the end of2002, he was rated 205 and was top-ranked in the ABSP ratings. As at October 14th 2010 he is rated 208...

 - the only UK Scrabble player to date to hold the World Championship title.

Spate gradually retired from the game, although he made a brief comeback in 2003, when he was the runner-up at the National Scrabble Championship

National Scrabble Championship (UK)

The UK National Scrabble Championships is held annually. It is organised by Mattel UK, the copyright owners of Scrabble in the UK, and rated by the Association of British Scrabble Players.-History:...

.