For Angela Rippon, the life that she had planned out was never about being a star.
As a young girl, inspired by her father’s pictures from the Second World War, she had dreamed of becoming a photojournalist – ironically, firmly positioned behind the camera rather than in front of it.
But as she can now happily attest, life doesn’t always work out the way you think it might. Today, at 81, the former veteran BBC news presenter is a bona fide national treasure, poised to celebrate 60 golden years on the small screen, where she has been known as much for her deft handling of the nation’s gravest news events as for her stints on Antiques Roadshow, Top Gear and – as a be-sequinned, agile-footed contestant – on Strictly Come Dancing.
She is, it is fair to say, stunned that the television career she stumbled into ‘completely by chance’ has sustained her for quite so long.
There will be a special dinner to celebrate the milestone on September 5 – the date in 1966 when she first appeared as a reporter on BBC South West.
There have now been rather a few of these repasts, as it has become a tradition of hers to mark another ten years in work. ‘After 21 years, I thought, ‘Crikey, I’m still here’, so I organised a dinner for the people that were involved in my career at that time,’ she explains in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday.
‘When it got to 30 years, I thought, ‘Flipping heck! I’m still here.’ I did it again when it was 40 years, and then again when it was 50.
‘What I’ve tried to do – and it’s grown over the years – is to thank those people who have helped me along the way.
Angela Rippon showing off her flexibility on Strictly Come Dancing in September 2023
She joined the BBC in 1973 and two years later became a newsreader. Angela secured the first ever interview with Margaret Thatcher after she became Tory leader
‘Sadly, some of my contemporaries are no longer with us, I’ve not only outworked them, I’ve outlived them.
‘I’m very privileged to do the job that I do. It’s just a way of saying thank you to people for giving me the opportunity of doing a job that I absolutely love.’
She makes it sound easy, but the truth is that Angela forged a way for the female newsreaders who followed her, and has proved (some might argue repeatedly, and even now) that age was no barrier for women on television.
In 1975, she became the first permanent female broadcaster to regularly read the BBC’s flagship Nine O’Clock News during an era where the only other women in the newsroom were secretaries.
When she turned a very glamorous 50 in 1994, the then-director of the BBC, John Birt, effectively told her that her time on screen was up.
Not only has she enjoyed proving him (very) wrong but has delighted in watching other women continue to have TV careers long past their 30s.
Recalling how the BBC’s – and, indeed, society’s – attitude to women has changed over the years, she said: ‘He [Birt] said to me, ‘Angela, you’ve had your day, it’s time to make way for the young women coming up behind you.’
‘Those young women coming up behind me are still there. They are now in their 50s or their 60s and working, which is fantastic, of course it is.
Angela appearing on The Morecambe and Wise Show
The former BBC newsreader says she is no longer seeking romance. PIctured: Angela on The Morecambe and Wise Show
‘You have women who are camera operators, sound operators, editors, producers, directors, behind the camera, in front of the camera and on radio.
‘You have brilliant women now who are correspondents, sports presenters – it’s a natural progression of the fact that women are good at what they do.
‘And when they’re good, they get recognition for it. And that’s why now we have some terrific women of all ages, working alongside men of all ages.’
Alongside those changes came shifts in Angela’s personal life, too. She split from her engineer husband, Christopher Dare, in 1989 after a 22-year marriage, and has previously said her public-facing role was, in part, to blame.
She has had several relationships since – keeping the details under wraps – but these days she is ‘happily single’.
And she is no longer seeking romance, she insists. Although she and Christopher had no children, she has a full social life and is close to her godchildren. There is no need, she maintains, to add to that.
‘I’m very fortunate that I have a wonderful circle of really good friends here in London and in Devon, where my family home is, and I’m never alone because there’s always somebody either on the end of the phone or sitting opposite me having brunch or dinner or going to the theatre or whatever.
‘So, I don’t even think about it. I just live a fulfilled life. I do a job that I love and I have a wonderful circle of friends who are really important to me. My friends are my extended family.’
Angela appeared on Strictly in 2023 as the show’s oldest-ever contestant at 79 years old
Angela Rippon’s River Cruises starts next Saturday at 8pm on Channel 5
One person who will no doubt be attending her celebratory dinner this September is her Strictly Come Dancing partner, Kai Widdrington.
Appearing on the show in 2023 as its oldest-ever contestant (she was 79) was a ‘full circle’ moment for Angela, having hosted Come Dancing, the long-running precursor to Strictly, for three years from 1988.
And it meant that, for a second time, she showed viewers the dancing skills she honed during childhood lessons she had to correct her ‘knocked knees’.
The first time is, of course, remembered for her now iconic high kick on the More-cambe and Wise Christmas special in 1976, watched by some 27million viewers.
Proving she still has the enviable flexibility of her younger self, she repeated the ‘jaw-dropping’ move on Strictly, 47 years on. Another reason that age, for Angela, is just a number. She and Kai, who at 30 is young enough to be her grandson, have remained good friends since the show.
‘Strictly was an absolute joy to work on and I was really fortunate – I have the most wonderful friend out of it because Kai was the most brilliant partner,’ she smiles.
‘I mean, there’s a 51-year age gap between us, but we regularly meet up and go for dinner.’
Talking of Strictly, the big question is this – who does Angela believe has what it takes to replace its outgoing hosts, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman? Last week, an MoS poll found Rylan Clark and Zoe Ball were the popular choice.
‘Strictly was an absolute joy to work on and I was really fortunate,’ says Angela
But Angela’s answer is rather more of a surprise.
‘I would actually love to see Anton [Du Beke] in that role.
‘I know he loves being a judge but I actually think, for all sorts of reasons, he would be a super presenter of the programme.
‘There’s a lot of change going on within the programme, and it would just be a line of continuity. He can sing, he can dance, he can be funny, he can be serious, he knows what he’s talking about, he can tick all those boxes that would make him a good presenter.
‘And the audience would approve of him, too.’
The training for Strictly is renowned for being physically tough on its celebrity contestants, but Angela has always been in good shape. Every morning starts with ‘ten to 15 minutes’ of stretching and exercise, and she plays tennis and attends ballet and dance classes when work allows.
She was inspired, she says, by Eileen Fowler – the Jane Fonda of the post-war years who started a health movement for women – who she interviewed in the early days of her career.
‘She was in her 60s and I was in my 20s and she was sort of bouncing around full of energy,’ Angela recalls.
At 81, Angela remains popular with viewers as her new show launches next Saturday
‘And she said, ‘What you have to remember is that the body is a machine. And like any machine, it has millions of moving parts and if you don’t keep those moving parts moving, and oiled and working, they will seize up and that’s true of a pair of scissors, a lawnmower, a car, whatever, and the same thing will happen to your body.’
‘That was great advice. I am not as fit as when I was in my 30s or 20s, obviously – my body has aged. But I’ve done the best that I can to keep it working.’
It is perhaps thanks to her well-maintained machine that she is still working. At 81, she remains so popular with viewers that she has landed a new Channel 5 travel show, Angela Rippon’s River Cruises.
It will see the broadcaster travel along the Danube through Hungary, Austria and Germany, before switching continents to Asia to glide down the Mekong, taking in Vietnam and Cambodia.
‘Isn’t it fantastic?’ she says of the new show. ‘And I do love to travel, so for this to come out of the blue was just absolutely brilliant.
‘What a wonderful opportunity to get the chance to do something like this.
‘I don’t think my age is that important, really. I mean, I’m still working and still doing stuff. It’s just a continuation of what I’ve been doing for the last 60 years.’
Angela Rippon’s River Cruises starts next Saturday at 8pm on Channel 5. Readers can also stream the new series on 5.
