Rachel Riley says she privately danced for Stephen Hawking

Rachel Riley revealed she once performed a private dance for Stephen Hawking.

The Countdown presenter told the story about her "weirdest day ever" on an episode of The Chris Ramsey Show.

The story came up when host Ramsey asked guest Guz Khan to guess which British figure Riley had performed a private dance for, with options being David Beckham, Prince Harry or Stephen Hawking.

Khan guessed Beckham, but Riley revealed that it was actually Hawking, and Jimmy Carr was to blame.

"Weirdest day ever... I was filming The Gadget Show," she began.

"So in the morning Ainsley Harriott cooked me three Christmas dinners - in October - and then Jimmy Carr messaged saying he was going out with Stephen Hawking and his family and friends, who are good mates," Riley added.

She said that his caretakers and family were big fans of Strictly Come Dancing, and since she was on it "all the time" she came down from Birmingham during mid-training and even brought boyfriend Pasha Kovalev.

Even though she was just two days into learning the new routine, she felt like she had to dance.

Riley explained, "He put the music on. I went to do the dance, and three beats in I accidentally head-butted Pasha. We have it on video somewhere."

She recalled that Hawking and the group were "p***ing themselves" laughing.

What made it even weirder is that the private dance was soundtracked by Nelly Furtado's club hit "Maneater."

Stephen Hawking passed away earlier this month at the age of 76.