I'm the oldest woman on TV not JUDGING CAKES!

Anne Robinson talks about toning down her famous acid tongue for Countdown and spending time with family during lockdown

- TIFFANY WALLIS

Anne Robinson is making a welcome return to our screens in a role very different to the one that made her a household name, as she becomes the new face of Countdown – taking over from Nick Hewer.

The 76-year-old became a quiz show legend with her catchphrase, ‘You are the weakest link, goodbye!’ – which sent shivers through contestants. But now she’s set to become the Channel 4 game show’s first-ever female presenter.

In fact, the star, who left The Weakest Link in 2012, is definitely not ready to start slowing down, and confesses she has no plans to retire any time soon. ‘I haven’t had any practice at it!’ Anne says. ‘I’ve always worked and I came from a household with a mother who ran quite a prestigious business, so I never knew an “at home” mother.

‘I never knew a mother who thought men were particularly important or thought you had to obey the rules, so it’s not surprising that I feel quite the same.’

Although Anne has no plans of giving up her telly career yet, she tells us that she realises she’s the ‘oldest woman on television not judging cakes’.

Fans of Anne will remember that she hosted Watchdog from 1993 to 2015, with a brief break in the middle, and she also had a brief stint across the pond, fronting the American version of