Here is the news... BBC boss asked me to quit at 50, says Angela, 78
SHE made headlines by becoming the first woman to read the national news on BBC TV regularly.
Now Angela Rippon, 78, who began her TV career in 1966, has told it was almost scuppered when she turned 50 in the 1990s.
She posed for a photoshoot for Prima and told the magazine: ‘When I was in my 50s, John Birt, the then director-general of the BBC, said “Angela, you’ve had your day – it’s time to make room for the young women coming behind you”. Well, that was 28 years ago and I’m still here!’
Ms Rippon, originally from Plymouth, was 21 when she joined the BBC, later becoming a reader on the Nine O’Clock News and hosting Antiques Roadshow and Top Gear.
She famously appeared on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1976 and dazzled viewers with a high-kicking dance routine – a move she can still perform.
The star, who currently co-hosts the
BBC’s Rip Off Britain, was married to her childhood sweetheart for 22 years before divorcing with no children. She said she is ‘very fortunate to have a lot of men’ in her life who are ‘wonderful, genuine friends’.
The April issue of Prima is on sale now.