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Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of

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game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'' (2000–2017). She presented the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

game show ''

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'' from June 2021 to July 2022, taking over from

Nick Hewer Nicholas Radbourn Hewer (born 17 February 1944) is a retired English television presenter, company director (2010) and former public relations consultant. From 2005 to 2014, he appeared as Alan Sugar's adviser in the British television series ...

. She left the programme on 13 July 2022 after recording 265 episodes.

Early life

Robinson was born in

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside ** Crosby (U ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, on 26 September 1944 and is of Irish descent."Memoirs of an Unfit Mother by Anne Robinson" – Post.ie
– 11 November 2001 Her father was a schoolteacher. Her mother, Anne Josephine ('' née'' Wilson), was an agricultural businesswoman from Northern Ireland, where she was the manager of a market stall. When she came to England, she married into her husband's family of wholesale chicken dealers, and sold rationed rabbit following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. She inherited the family market stall in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and transformed it into one of the largest wholesale poultry dealing businesses in the north of England. Brought up initially at the family home in Crosby, Robinson attended a private

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convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

boarding school in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, Farnborough Hill Convent, now known as Farnborough Hill. She was hired as a chicken gutter and saleswoman during the holidays in the family business, before taking office jobs at a law firm. The family spent their summers on holiday in France, often at the Carlton Hotel in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

Career

Early career

On leaving school, Robinson chose journalism over training for the theatre. After working in a

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...

, she arrived in London in 1967 as the first young female trainee on the '' Daily Mail''. Robinson's mother's going-away present to her daughter was an MG sports car and a fur coat. Robinson secured a permanent position as a result of scooping the details of the story of

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

's death from being a family friend of the Liverpool solicitor handling the legalities, offering him a ride to Euston railway station when he could not find an available taxi. Her work became more uncomfortable for her when she met and fell in love with the deputy news editor, Charles Wilson; the couple married in 1968, but he subsequently had to terminate her employment because of the marriage. Robinson joined ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

''. In 1977, her inability to hand in her

copy Copy may refer to: *Copying or the product of copying (including the plural "copies"); the duplication of information or an artifact **Cut, copy and paste, a method of reproducing text or other data in computing **File copying **Photocopying, a pr ...

due to an alcohol-related incident led to her contract being terminated by ''The Sunday Times''. She then began working for the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

''.

Press

Robinson returned to Fleet Street in 1980, working as columnist and assistant editor of the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

''. She also wrote a column under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of the "Wednesday Witch", in which she developed her vitriolic style. During her career as a newspaper journalist, she developed a flair for writing tabloid headlines. In discussing a raise with ''Mirror'' boss

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

, she asked for a doubling of her salary and a brand-new Mercedes to be written in her contract. Following the departure of her husband, Robinson demanded that Maxwell make up the difference in their joint income, which he did. Robinson wrote obituaries to Maxwell following his death in 1991, saying: "He left me reeling from his charm, his amazing panache and the sheer speed at which his brain worked. He was my inspiration and my hero". Her closeness to Maxwell was mocked by

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...

in 1999 as a panellist on '' Have I Got News for You'', as well when she became the first guest presenter of the show in 2002. In ''Memoirs of an Unfit Mother'' in 2001, Robinson criticised Maxwell's fraudulent misappropriation of the ''Mirror'' pension fund (which fully came to light after his death), in which she said: "we failed to monitor what was happening on our doorstep", adding: "cowards had made his behaviour possible. Bankers, accountants, lawyers, who should have known better ... said yes when they should have said no." On 14 November 1982, Robinson attended a formal dinner attended by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, at which she noted that Diana, Princess of Wales, arrived late. Robinson asked the ''Mirror''s Royal editor James Whitaker to investigate and, after conversations with various sources including Diana's sister

Lady Sarah McCorquodale Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale (''née'' Spencer; born 19 March 1955) is one of the two older sisters of Diana, Princess of Wales, the other being Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes. Early life Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer was born ...

, confirmed that Diana was suffering from an eating disorder, named as

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

in a scoop article on 19 November 1982. As a result, Buckingham Palace Press Secretary Michael Shea rang then ''Mirror'' editor

Mike Molloy Michael Molloy (born 22 December 1940) is a British author and former newspaper editor and cartoonist. Biography Born in Hertfordshire, Molloy studied at Ealing Junior School and the Ealing School of Art before working at the ''Sunday Pictori ...

, asking him to remove Robinson. She was subsequently removed from the editorial rota, and was advised by Molloy to "do more television, blossom, that's what you're good at". Robinson has written weekly columns for a succession of other British newspapers, such as ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', '' The Sun'', '' The Express'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', and ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''.

Television and radio

Robinson began appearing on BBC television in 1982, initially as an occasional panellist on ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' and presenting her 'TV Choice' on '' Breakfast Time''. From 1986, she began sitting in on television viewers' show '' Points of View'' for regular presenter

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

, taking over from Took permanently in 1988 and remaining for 11 years. In 1993, she took over the presentation and writing of the consumer affairs television programme ''

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

.'' Robinson presented a Saturday morning show on Radio 2 from 1988 to 1993. In the UK, Robinson is best known for hosting the game show ''

'', and in the United States its

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

primetime counterpart, ''

Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

''. She originally started with an icy, mysterious appearance and persona, maintaining her deadpan delivery to funny and friendly moments throughout; however, she toned down her icy, deadpan approach over the years, with her often smiling, engaging, and on occasion, even laughing, especially on the celebrity editions. Her use of insults, caustic remarks and personal questions fiercely directed at contestants became famous. Her trenchant and curt utterance "You ''are'' the weakest link – goodbye!" became a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

soon after the show started in 2000. Asked by the Duke of Edinburgh to present some

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

s, she agreed subject to his taking part in the ''Weakest Link''. The Duke declined. In 2001, she was accused of hatred towards the Welsh, after describing them as "irritating and annoying" while appearing as a guest on ''

Room 101 The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', by George Orwell. The use of contradictory ...

''. Robinson is a vocal supporter of fox hunting and, before it was banned in 2004, was a key supporter of the pro-hunt cause. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' claims she has ridden with the White Horse Hunt. In an interview with '' Radio Times'' in September 2000, Robinson was asked what her first act as world leader would be, replying: "I'd lock up all the hunt saboteurs because they are destructive. They are campaigning about something of which they know nothing." In February 2002, she hosted a spin-off version of ''The Weakest Link'' in

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

to raise funds for the local White Horse Hunt. The event was picketed by around 100 protesters from the League Against Cruel Sports, around 70

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

activists returning from another demonstration joined the picket, culminating in a near riot. The event eventually went ahead after Robinson was escorted into the venue by local police. Doctor Who Experience (3133019330)

In 2005, she made an appearance on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', admitting she had been an unfit mother. Also in 2005, she appeared on an episode of the revived '' Doctor Who'', entitled "

Bad Wolf "Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived first series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episo ...

", voicing a futuristic android version of herself named the "Anne Droid" on a lethal version of ''The Weakest Link'' in the year 200,100. When contestants lose as the "weakest link", the android blasts them with a disintegrator in its mouth, which really teleports them away to a

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

fleet. Robinson hosted the BBC's

outtakes An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

programme '' Outtake TV'' until 2009. She hosted a satirical news-based chat show on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

called ''What's the Problem? With Anne Robinson'', and the BBC's interactive quiz ''

Test the Nation ''Test the Nation'' is a television programme, first broadcast in 2001 by BNN in the Netherlands. The concept is owned by Eyeworks Holding who license it to TV production companies around the world. Show format The format is designed to allow v ...

''. A report published in 2006, which concluded that the BBC is "endemically homophobic", highlighted as one example of anti-gay bigotry in the network Robinson's treatment of a male contestant at ''The Weakest Link – Celebrity Chefs'', to whom she made questions such as "What do you do in your restaurant – just mince around?", and "Before you go, and bear in mind that this is a family show, what's the strangest thing you've ever put in your mouth?" The previous year she was also accused of bigotry when she told a female prison officer that she must be a lesbian. The BBC received 16 complaints after Robinson asked wine connoisseur

Olly Smith Olly Smith (born 18 September 1974) is a British TV presenter, wine expert, columnist and author. Education and career Having discovered a love for singing at the tender age of eight, he was a chorister at King's College, Cambridge, which saw ...

, who was competing on the celebrity version of ''The Weakest Link'', to feel her breasts, after he described her as a "full-bodied, expensive red". The programme was broadcast on Saturday 5 April 2008 on

. Robinson caused controversy on ''The Weakest Link'' when she made former '' Blue Peter'' presenter

John Noakes John Noakes (born John Wallace Bottomley; 6 March 1934 – 28 May 2017) was an English television presenter and former actor. He co-presented the BBC children's magazine programme ''Blue Peter'' in the 1960s and 1970s and was the show's longes ...

cry after asking "What was the end for Shep?" Shep had been Noakes's pet dog both on and off ''Blue Peter''. In 2009, Robinson returned to presenting BBC One's long-running consumer show ''Watchdog''. She finished presenting ''The Weakest Link'' in 2012 after twelve years as the host of 1,693 shows. On 10 September 2015, it was announced that Robinson would step down from ''Watchdog'' once again, this time in order to film a new series of ''Britain's Spending Secrets'' for the channel. She had presented ''Watchdog'' for a total of 15 years. In 2016, Robinson presented ''Anne Robinson's Britain'' for BBC One. The series consisted of three episodes, each focusing on different aspects of British life. Episode one was centred on parenting, episode two on the nation's love of pets and particularly cats and dogs, and the final episode focused on the nation's fixation with how they look. At the end of October 2017 on BBC Radio's ''

'' programme, Robinson responded to the accusations of sexual abuse made against multiple men which had followed Harvey Weinstein allegations published earlier in the month. She accused women of not complaining until now. According to Robinson, "40 years ago, there were very few of us women in power and, I have to say, we had a much more robust attitude to men behaving badly". At the present time, she claimed, there "is a sort of fragility amongst women who aren't able to cope with the treachery of the workplace". Referring to an allegation made against the trade minister

Mark Garnier Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (born 26 February 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and former banker. He was first elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre Forest at the 2010 general election. Garnier was re-elected at the ...

about him asking a female assistant to buy sex toys: "It shouldn't be happening but, on the other hand, why have women lost confidence". She said this incident led her to be "in despair". Robinson outlined her method of dealing with the problem: "In my day we gave them a slap, and told them to grow up!" Robinson was accused of

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

on social media. In February 2021, Robinson was announced as the next host of the game show ''

'' following the resignation of

. Her premiere as host aired on 28 June 2021, marking her return to the show when she first appeared as a guest in the Dictionary Corner in 1987. In May 2022, it was announced that she will be leaving the show after just one year with immediate effect. Her last episode aired on 13 July 2022. In total, she recorded 265 episodes.

Personal life

Robinson married the journalist Charles Wilson in 1968. In 1970 the couple had a daughter, Emma Wilson, who became a British radio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

and has also hosted ''

Scaredy Camp ''Scaredy Camp'' is an American television series that aired on Nickelodeon. It was hosted by Emma Wilson (the daughter of ''Weakest Link'' host, Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter ...

'', a game show in the United States on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

network. In 1973, Robinson lost a custody battle for Emma, her only child, then aged two. Charles Wilson was granted sole custody, care and control of Emma, who subsequently lived with her father until she left home at 16 for boarding school. An admitted

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

, Robinson stopped drinking on 12 December 1978 after picking her daughter up from school and driving to a petrol station to buy a bottle of

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

and joined Alcoholics Anonymous that year. Robinson married journalist John Penrose in 1980. On 30 September 2007, the couple announced that they were planning to divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". In 2001, she published her autobiography, ''Memoirs of an Unfit Mother'', in which she describes her former drinking problem. In 2001, Robinson was diagnosed with

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

and had surgery to treat it. She has two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Anne 1944 births Living people 20th-century British journalists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century English women writers Daily Mail journalists Daily Mirror people English autobiographers English columnists English game show hosts English journalists English non-fiction writers English people of Irish descent English radio DJs English television presenters English women journalists English women non-fiction writers English people of Northern Ireland descent Journalists from Liverpool People educated at Farnborough Hill People from Crosby, Merseyside The Sunday Times people Television presenters from Liverpool The Times people Writers from Liverpool BBC Radio 2 presenters Women autobiographers British women radio presenters British women columnists