Angela Rippon is currently wowing viewers as the oldest ever Strictly Come Dancing contestant, but was once told by BBC bosses at the age of 50 that her career on TV was over and she should move aside for “younger women”.
Rippon, who turns 79 on Thursday, is paired up with Strictly professional Kai Widdrington and has delivered consistently, with Widdington hailing her an inspiration to millions of older people, stating: “Look how amazing she is.”
In 2020, the veteran newsreader revealed to Woman’s Weekly that she had been told she was too old to continue with her job.
Speaking to the magazine, she recalled part of the conversation: “‘Angela, you’ve had your day and you have to make room for the other women coming up behind you.’
“I’m well into my 70s and I’m still doing a full-time job in television and broadcasting, so I suppose that’s my revenge for having to listen to that kind of patronising twaddle!”
It’s not the first time that Rippon has spoken about the discrimination she has come up against because of her age.
In 2018, while filming the 10th series of Rip Off Britain, she said she felt there “used to be a view that people should grow old gracefully, retire from public life and sit in a rocking chair and crochet blankets for their knees”, adding: “I was never going to do that.”
“Age isn’t important to me, because in my head, I feel in my 30s. I have the unique privilege that people still ask me to work and I travel to places and meet people that most would give their right arm to do.
“It’s never occurred to me to retire. I’m not conventional and I still love trying new things. That’s what I mean by ‘ageing dis-gracefully’.”
