Angela Rippon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rippon in 2022 | |
| Born | Angela May Rippon (1944-10-12)12 October 1944 (age 80) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1966–present |
| Notable credits | |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Clive Nattress (cousin) |
Angela May RipponCBE (born 12 October 1944) is an English broadcaster, former newsreader, writer and journalist.
Rippon presented radio and television news programmes inSouth West England before moving toBBC One'sNine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975. She was the first female journalist to be given a permanent role presenting the BBC national television news, and the third female news presenter to appear on national broadcasts on British television, afterBarbara Mandell onIndependent Television News (ITN) in 1955, andNan Winton, who temporarily presented the national news onBBC Television, in 1960.[1]
Rippon appeared on aMorecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1976, presented the first two series ofTop Gear and also presentedCome Dancing. She hosted theEurovision Song Contest 1977. She was a presenter on, and co-founder of, breakfast television franchiseeTV-am. In the 1990s, she moved to radio, presenting daily news programmes forLBC Newstalk between 1990 and 1994, and appeared onChannel 4'sThe Big Breakfast as a stand-in newsreader. She presented the BBC broadcast of the United Kingdom Ballroom Championships at theBournemouth International Centre in 1991.
Rippon has written fourteen books,[2] toured with a production ofAnything Goes and presented a segment of BBC One'sThe One Show. Since 2009, she has co-presented theBBC One consumer showRip Off Britain withGloria Hunniford andJulia Somerville; in 2013 and 2014 she hostedHoliday Hit Squad alongsideHelen Skelton andJoe Crowley.[3] She was also the voiceover for the BBC One game showThe Wall and can currently be seen presenting occasionally onGB News.
Angela May Rippon[4] was born on 12 October 1944[5][4] inPlymouth,Devon, into a working-class family.[6] Her father, John, was aRoyal Marine; she first saw him in 1947 when he returned fromWorld War II.[7] Rippon's Scottish mother, Edna, worked at a fine china company called Lawley's[6] and was also aseamstress. She attended Public Secondary School for Girls, Cobourg Street in Plymouth.
After leaving school at 17, Rippon joined the photographic office of theWestern Morning News and worked for theSunday Independent, and later, BBC local radio andWestward Television as an editor.[8]
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In 1966, when she was 21, Rippon began her television career atBBC South West in Plymouth,[9] before becoming a reporter for BBC TV news.[10] Rippon first presented a national news programme onBBC2 in 1974.[11] For a fortnight, she replaced newsreaderRichard Baker – who was on holiday – onBBC One'sNine O'Clock News, and was offered a permanent newsreading role on that programme in 1975.[12]
Rippon was called by newspapers the first female televisionnewsreader. However,ITN'sBarbara Mandell predated her, having first appeared on the second night ofITV in 1955;Nan Winton was the first female BBC newsreader in 1960, andMary Marquis had already beenBBC Scotland's main newsreader for a few years. Rippon was the first female journalist to read the news regularly on national television.[13][14]
In an interview withThe Guardian, she said: "You just become an automated autocue reader and if you've half a brain you want an opportunity to use it. When I read the Nine O'Clock News, I kept my brain active by working on programmes likeAntiques Roadshow (which she briefly hosted in 1979),Top Gear andIn the Country."[14] Rippon was a guest in the 1976Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show, first appearing behind a BBC newsdesk, then emerging to perform a high-kicking dance routine.[14] Her appearance was so popular she made acameo appearance in the following year's show, in which she was revealed to be one of achorus line. Rippon later presented the long-running showCome Dancing.[9]
Rippon hosted the1977 Eurovision Song Contest at theWembley Conference Centre in London.[15] She was the first presenter of BBC television'sTop Gear, presenting the motoring programme from 1977 to 1979.[16] Rippon appeared briefly on TV-am following its launch in 1983. After a much publicised exit from TV-am (with most of its other founder presenters),[14] she worked as an Arts and Entertainments correspondent forWHDH-TV (then known as WNEV) inBoston, Massachusetts for a brief period.[17]
Rippon co-presented the BBC's coverage of thewedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July 1981[18] and BBC One's coverage of the1979 UK general election results.[10] In the mid-1980s, she hosted the quiz show,Masterteam onBBC One, and hostedITV's revival of the panel gameWhat's My Line? from 1989 to 1990.[8] In 1990, she also hosted a game show,Matchpoint, that was based on tennis format. She also became a regular presenter onBBC Radio 2, often sitting in forJimmy Young and presenting a seasonal Friday night show from 1986 to 1989.[19]
From 1990 to 1994, she presentedAngela Rippon's Morning Report, a daily radio news programme on LBC Newstalk,[14] and, later,Angela Rippon's Drivetime. She was a stand-in newsreader on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast until 2002.[8] In 2005, Rippon co-hosted a series ofSun, Sea and Bargain Spotting for BBC 2 and in April 2006, she toured the UK as a cast member of the musicalAnything Goes.[20] In 2007, she became a presenter onCash in the Attic, a BBC One daytime television programme broadcast where presenters meet members of the general public, who seek out valuables and antiques to be sold at auction, in their homes.[21]
In 1997, Rippon presented theChannel 4 showGame of War with co-presenterPaddy Griffith, a programme that re-enacted historic battles on the wargames table with modern-day military commanders re-fighting the battles. The show only aired for three episodes. The battles re-fought wereBattle of Naseby (14 June 1645),Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) andBattle of Balaklava (25 October 1854).[22]
In 2010, Rippon appeared as a guest judge on theITV showDancing on Ice, covering forRobin Cousins. The following year, she returned to the show as a contestant in thesixth series on 9 January 2011, with her professional partner, Canadian ice skaterSean Rice, she failed to qualify for the competition and was eliminated alongsideNadia Sawalha andMark Hanretty.[23] In March 2011, she appeared withLenny Henry,Samantha Womack andReggie Yates in a BBC documentary to raise funds forComic Relief. It was calledFamous, Rich and in the Slums, and showed four celebrities travelling toKibera in Kenya, Africa's largestslum.[24] In 2011 she joinedThe One Show, presenting a five-minute slot called "Rippon's Britain".[25]
On 19 November 2011, Rippon appeared onChildren in Need, performing alongside BBC newsreadersSian Williams,Susanna Reid,Sophie Raworth, andEmily Maitlis in a special one-off edition ofStrictly Come Dancing. In the same month she worked briefly onBBC Radio 5 Live as a stand-in presenter on theDouble Take programme.[26]
Rippon joined the BBC again, as a co-presenter on theBBC One showHoliday Hit Squad in 2013, alongsideJoe Crowley andHelen Skelton. The show returned for a second series in March 2014.[27]
In 2014, Rippon co-hosted theITV Saturday night entertainment seriesAmazing Greys alongsidePaddy McGuinness. The show lasted for just one series.[28] In April 2016, she co-presented the two-partBBC One seriesHow to Stay Young.[29]
In 2018, Rippon was a co-presenter of live coverage of thewedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for theSeven Network (Australia) alongsideMichael Usher andMelissa Doyle.[30][31]
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In 2022, Rippon provided analysis on the Australian television broadcasterSeven Network's coverage of thedeath and state funeral of Elizabeth II as a royal commentator.[32] She has been a stand-in presenter onGB News, first alongsideEamonn Holmes on the breakfast programme,[33] and then onAlistair Stewart and Friends.[34]
In August 2023, it was announced that she would be taking part in thetwenty-first series ofStrictly Come Dancing, over thirty years after hosting the original version of the showCome Dancing. Rippon, who turned 79 whilst participating in the series, is the oldest contestant in the show's history.[35]
In the early 1980s, Rippon put her name to a series of ghost-written children's books about a character called "Victoria Plum" that was published byPurnell and Sons. Victoria Plum was a tree fairy in "the Great Wood". Merchandise and a Christmas annual were released following the second series.[36] In 1982, she wrote a bookMark Phillips, the Man and His Horses,[37] about thePrincess Royal's then husband. Rippon has since written keep-fit guides for older people, includingStay Active, Stay Supple, Stay Healthy.[38]
Rippon is patron of the Old Time Dance Society. In 2010, she attended the society's 25th Anniversary Ball of the Year.[39] In 2000, Rippon was appointed chair ofEnglish National Ballet. After several years of involvement, she resigned in late 2003 following complaints and briefings about her leadership style, which was described as "schoolmistressy" and "imperious".[40]
In 1967 at the age of 22, she married Christopher Dare, an engineer.[5] They separated in 1989, divorcing later. They had no children.[41] Rippon has said that her marriage ending was very painful, and that her celebrity status was one factor.[42] She has had subsequent long-term relationships, but is happy being single.[43][44] Rippon lives inKensington, west London.[45] She is a cousin of the formerDarlington F.C. playerClive Nattress.[46]
She was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 1981 when she was surprised byEamonn Andrews while signing copies of her newly published book in a store at the Brent Cross Shopping Centre.[47]
Rippon was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2004 Birthday Honours.[48]
Rippon was awarded an honorary doctorate of Arts fromPlymouth University in 2012.[49]
She was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2017 New Year Honours for services to dementia care in her role as development lead with Dementia Friendly Communities.[50][51]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976–1981 | BBC Nine O'Clock News | Newsreader | |
| 1977 | Eurovision Song Contest | Presenter | |
| 1977–1978 | Top Gear | Co-presenter | |
| 1979 | Antiques Roadshow | Presenter | |
| 1983 | Good Morning Britain | Co-presenter | |
| 1983 | Daybreak | Co-presenter | |
| 1985-1987 | Masterteam | Presenter | |
| 1988–1991, 1998 | Come Dancing | Presenter[52][53] | |
| 1988–1990 | What's My Line? | Presenter | |
| 1990 | Matchpoint | Presenter | |
| 1997 | Game of War | Co-presenter | 3 episodes, withPaddy Griffith |
| 2007–2013 | Cash in the Attic | Presenter | 5 episodes |
| 2009–2024 | Rip Off Britain | Co-presenter | |
| 2010 | Dancing on Ice | Guest judge | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Contestant | Series 6 | |
| Famous, Rich and in the Slums | Participant | ||
| 2013–2014 | Holiday Hit Squad | Co-presenter | WithHelen Skelton andJoe Crowley |
| 2014 | Amazing Greys | Co-presenter | WithPaddy McGuinness |
| 2016— | How to Stay Young | Co-presenter | WithChris van Tulleken |
| 2017— | Health: Truth or Scare | Co-presenter | WithKevin Duala |
| 2019 | The Truth About...Antibiotics | Presenter | |
| 2019–2022 | The Wall | Voiceover | |
| 2023 | Elizabeth II: Making of a Monarch | Narrator | Two-part documentary[54] |
| Strictly Come Dancing | Contestant | Series 21 |
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Host ofAntiques Roadshow 1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1977 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
