As an anti-racism campaigner,[1] she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to Holocaust education and antisemitism awareness.

[8][9] During a university holiday, Riley considered a career in the financial sector and completed an internship at Deutsche Bank in the City of London.

The experience put her off: she found the extreme behaviour of City traders wearing, and she disliked the early-morning train commute.

She was eliminated in week six of the show, on 3 November 2013, after losing out in the dance-off against Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Škorjanec, who went on to win the series.

[10] For the first five weeks, Riley suffered from stage fright, commenting, "As soon as the music would start, I would have a fuzzy brain and it was like an out-of-body experience"; after seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist, she was able to control her breathing, and so was only able to truly enjoy the show for what proved to be her final appearance.

[28][29] In her appearance as a contestant on the BBC quiz show Celebrity Mastermind, broadcast on 4 January 2012, her specialist subject was a limited (13-year) history of the club; she eventually finished in joint second place.

The tweet was condemned by some for erasing the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa, the original subject of the sign, to make a political point, with some users calling for Riley to be fired.

[42] The professional photographer who took the original shot, Rob Scott, also declared his displeasure, claiming she had "illegally manipulated and printed" the picture to "cynically promote her agenda", adding: "I am appalled by the abuse of property, moral rights and change of anti-racist message to anti-Corbyn one.

Sivier had previously been found liable for three of the four claims against him before the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ordered a review of the exclusion of a public interest defense.

[49][50] Riley was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to Holocaust education and antisemitism awareness.

[51] In April 2024, during the Israel–Hamas war, Riley accused Apple of antisemitism when an iPhone update displayed the Palestinian flag as a suggested emoji when users type in the word "Jerusalem".

"[53] Riley has visited schools to enthuse pupils on the "joys of applied maths, quantum mechanics and time travel and so on".

[10][15] In June 2019, Riley was criticised by environmental groups and accused of greenwashing for her promotion of the "future energy solutions" of Shell, an oil and gas company.

[58] She participated in an April 2022 study by Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that Instagram failed to act on 90% of abusive direct messages sent to high-profile women.