Entertainment
Countdown’s Anne Robinson says ‘stupid’ TV boss told her not to do signature wink: ‘So I’ve done it ever since’
Anne Robinson has revealed she was once advised by a TV boss to not do her signature move on telly – yes, that iconic wink.
The 76-year-old previously hosted The Weakest Link, where she built a name for herself as a tough, no-nonsense presenter.
Now Anne is replacing Nick Hewer on Countdown, who is stepping down this week after 10 years on the programme.
Anne said a previous BBC managing director once advised her to get rid of her renowned wink, a request that she ignored.
The broadcaster has now assured fans that her trademark move will be making a comeback when she fronts the Channel 4 game show.
‘I did it on Points of View and the then-managing director of the BBC, when I went to Watchdog where I started, he told me I mustn’t do it,’ she told The Sun Online.
‘So I’ve done it ever since. I have no idea for his reason why, he was just a stupid bloke really.’
The 76-year-old explained that the reason she ignored his instructions is because she never wanted to conform, as she believes it can prevent you from getting a job.
Anne said: ‘Because when you go for an interview, what you need is to be weird or eccentric because you’re going to be so much more appealing to whoever’s interviewing you for the job.’
The television presenter added that she has always thought it is a ‘terrible drawback’ to learn to conform.
Anne has also promised to give Countdown contestants an easier time than she did on the notoriously cruel, The Weakest Link.
‘I don’t want the contestants to have a box of Kleenex next to them,’ she said to The Mirror.
‘But it’s exactly the same as the Weakest Link. If there was a 19-year-old undergraduate, I wouldn’t treat her as I would a not-very-attractive old man, to whom I would ask, “Have you always been so devastatingly handsome?”‘
Countdown airs weekdays at 2.10pm on Channel 4.
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