She may have a tough-talking reputation, but when it comes to chatting about her grandchildren, Anne Robinson sounds as doting as any other proud grandmother. The new Countdown host softens when she reveals that her family are the most important part of her life. And while lockdown has been difficult for so many people, for Anne (76), it presented an unexpected opportunity to spend uninterrupted time with her only daughter and her family.
Last March, broadcast journalist Emma Wilson (49) left London for her mother’s home in the Cotswolds with advertising film director husband Liam Kan and their children Hudson (12) and Parker (11) they all ended up staying for almost six months.
Anne, who lives on her own, says: “They came late at night; the car was absolutely packed. Two grandsons, two very large English setters, cricket bats, footballs, homework, clothes, laptops. The whole lot. All of us who have children, they are the most important part of our lives. I felt very lucky that I had a really lovely time during lockdown.”
Anne on Countdown
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Anne’s recent debut on Countdown as the first female host in the show’s 39-year history left her two young grandsons unimpressed. She says that they are disinterested in her fame.
“They’ve grown up with me being on television and their mother is very strict about how much TV they watch,” she says.
Anne has just taken over the reins from Nick Hewer as the sixth host of Channel 4’s longest running series. The presenter became a familiar presence on TV screens after fronting BBC show’s What The Papers Say, Watchdog and Points Of View. But it was her straight talking on quiz show The Weakest Link, which ran from 2000 to 2012, that helped turn her into a household name.
It was a very different quiz to anything else that was on television. Anne was often shockingly rude to contestants and became known as the Queen of Mean.
Yet, despite her years of experience and spiky image, Anne admits she is still finding her feet and was nervous starting her new job, joining numbers whizz Rachel Riley and wordsmith Susie Dent on Countdown.
“Most pros are apprehensive about a new job because you wouldn’t be a professional if you thought it was all easy peasy. You’ve just got to make it look that way. I’ve watched a lot of Countdown and I’ve just done the first 15 shows.
“It takes a bit of time to get the geography of it right, however much you’ve looked at it, once you’re in the studio. And also to relax and put your own stamp on something.”
Due to Covid protocols, filming in Salford has been challenging for the all-female team.
She says, “Because of lockdown, I hadn’t met Rachel before and I’ve met her face-to-face on set for about a minute!
“We go into the studio from different directions, they are across the room from me, then we go back to separate dressing rooms. So we have only chatted across the studio.
“So I hope as restrictions drop, we can all go out for a meal together. I am amazed how professional they both are.”
She concedes that Richard Whiteley, the show’s much-loved original host, was her favourite, “But I think he was everyone’s favourite, wasn’t he? The interesting thing is that each host has taken a character to the show and behaved differently, which is one of the reasons for its longevity. Des Lynam, Des O’Connor both had their own style.”
Anne admits that she was star struck when she appeared on Countdown in Dictionary Corner for five shows in 1987 and met the show’s much-loved original host Richard Whiteley, who sadly died in 2005. She recalls: “I remember Richard being absolutely charming and absolutely himself. Carol Vorderman was there and did the adding up. It was a very nice experience.
Looking back on the early shows, Richard’s style was very soft and gentle. As he was.”
Given her former reputation as the Queen of Mean, Anne admits that she is going to try to ‘tone down her nastiness’ on the show.
She says: “After 15 shows I’d say that it’s not unlike The Weakest Link in as much as you hope you can assess the contestant to work out what fun you can have, but I’m not there to make someone feel incredibly uncomfortable. I’m there to have a bit of fun, so they enjoy it.”
Anne opens up about her softer side
But she confesses to us that she’s a softie underneath. “We all are. But that is not going to earn me a living.”
She asserts that she wasn’t always so tough, but her high-flying Fleet Street career helped her develop an armour.
“I used to be more sensitive and I wasn’t always so robust, but working in newspaper journalism accustoms you to how it works. It’s not that I am not sensitive, I’ve just had enough experience of it and I know how to deal with it.”
Of Irish descent and raised in Crosby in Merseyside, she says her parents have been the greatest influence on her. “For different reasons. My father was a teacher. He loved literature, was incredibly witty, and was a performer; he could play the piano and saxophone. He was hugely influential in the sort of books we read, so that was important.
“My mother was very good at making money. She ran a poultry wholesale business and was funny, too. It was one of those households where you had to keep up. It was like a permanent game of table tennis. I got my work ethic from them. It’s in my DNA.”
To keep fit she exercises nearly every day. “I run, I do Pilates, I do weights. Not because I like to, but simply not to be stiff. And to be able to fit into size ten dresses! I try to do a minute walk and a minute run. I will do about 5km. Sometimes I run with my spaniel, Hattie. I’ve never been without a dog.”
She adds: “I think each to their own. Other people like baking puddings into the right shape at 76 but I just like being a size ten. I’m doing all right for an old woman!”
Countdown is on every weekday at 2.10pm on Channel 4