TV is sexist and ageist, says Anne Robinson

TV is sexist and ageist, says Anne Robinson
TV is sexist and ageist, says Anne Robinson (Image credit: BBC)

The Weakest Link's Queen of Mean Anne Robinson says she thinks "all television is sexist and ageist'. She says that other older female TV stars who had been shown the door did not 'have her CV'. "I'm quite pragmatic," the 64-year-old told Radio Times. "If there was a lovely blonde with huge breasts and long legs who had my experience and wit, I'd be out of a job. "I think all television is sexist and ageist." But young women working in TV had a better chance of getting on than men in a similar position, she said. "There are a lot of pretty young things with not much talent appearing on television here, and I don't think that young guys who are not as attractive would get those gigs," she said. Anne will soon be back hosting consumer rights show Watchdog, 16 years after she first presented it and eight years after she left to concentrate on teatime quiz The Weakest Link. She said she had no worries about being taken seriously after eight years in light entertainment as her 'Queen of Mean' reputation had only been enhanced by the Weakest Link.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.