Strictly Come Dancing star blasts BBC for snubbing her ‘valuable programme’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Strictly star Angela Rippon has hit out at the BBC over its scheduling (Picture: PA)

Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Rippon has blasted the BBC for shunning consumer shows in primetime slots.

The Rip Off Britain presenter, 79, has questioned the broadcaster’s decision to keep her show as part of the daytime schedule, highlighting how influential it has become.

Angela, who has fronted the likes of Top Gear and Come Dancing, and began presenting Rip Off Britain with Gloria Hunniford in 2009, said: ‘How come such a valuable programme doesn’t command the spotlight and the bigger audience of a primetime slot?

‘Why is consumer journalism absent from BBC primetime television with Watchdog reduced to a single item once a week on The One Show and consumer spots on Morning Live? Well, that’s the question we are constantly asked by loyal viewers.’

She continued to the Radio Times magazine: ‘Rip Off Britain was conceived as a daytime programme, so that’s where we stay. It’s one of the peculiarities of TV scheduling.’

The former Eurovision host insisted the prevalence of scams means consumer shows need to be broadcasted to the biggest audience possible.

The presenter questioned the broadcaster’s decision to keep her show as part of the daytime schedule (Picture : Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Angela Rippon fronts Rip Off Britain alongside Gloria Hunniford and Julia Somerville (Picture: BBC)

She said: ‘Let’s face it, in the current economic climate where every penny counts, and consumers are more and more under threat from scams that rob them of their hard-earned cash, millions more could benefit from our expertise, advice and reputation.’

Angela pointed to the dangers presented by ‘sophisticated scammers, fraudsters and blatant rip-off merchants’, which makes such shows more necessary than ever before.

She added: ‘With a cost-of-living crisis and so much of our financial lives – from banking to shopping – online, it could be argued that consumer programming has never been more important.’

Angela made history as Strictly’s oldest contestant (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

While the TV schedule isn’t ideal, Angela pointed out that viewers can still stream Rip Off Britain even if they aren’t home when it’s first aired thanks to iPlayer.

‘Watch Rip Off Britain in your own prime time, at nine o’clock at night or three in the morning – whatever works for you,’ she said.

Angela made history last year as Strictly’s oldest ever contestant, partnered with Kai Widdrington in the competition, which saw Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola crowned champions.

Following her incredible TV career, Angela highlighted the variety of her presenting gigs and how it helped her stay fit, telling Metro.co.uk at the time: ‘For the job that I do, you need to be fit because you never know what you’re going to be asked to do next.

The former Come Dancing presenter has spoken about the physicality of her work and needing to stay fit in the past (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

The star was speaking in the recent issue of RadioTimes

‘And a lot of the things that I’ve done in television have been very physical.

‘Nobody thought twice about asking me to go diving with great white sharks or swim with killer whales in the Arctic Circle or abseil down Table Mountain.

‘You never know what you’re going to be asked to do.’

Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBCiPlayer. Rip Off Britain airs weekdays at 9.30am on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer.

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