Angela Rippon, beloved TV presenter and Strictly star, has opened up about an astonishing conversation with her former BBC boss that changed her career forever. At the age of just 50, Rippon claims she was told by then BBC Director-General John Birt that it was time for her to step aside to “make way for younger women.” 
In an exclusive interview on the White Wine Question Time podcast, the 81-year-old revealed the shocking exchange, which occurred during a tumultuous period when she was being removed from key programmes. Rippon had already been removed from a number of shows, and it was then that Birt delivered the harsh words: “You’ve had your day,” he allegedly told her. 
The veteran broadcaster did not take this lying down. “I remember telling him, ‘What about Terry Wogan? What about Michael Parkinson? They were much older than me and still on air. Why are they being treated differently?'” Angela recalled. She called out the decision as blatant sexism, accusing the BBC of failing to apply the same standards to its male stars.
Rippon, who has fronted major shows such as Top Gear, Antiques Roadshow, and the Nine O’Clock News, stood up to the pressure and ultimately fought to continue her career. Now, decades later, she’s still going strong. She said, “It was a very misogynistic thing to say, and as it turned out, it was also very inaccurate. I’m 81 now, and I’m still here.”
Reflecting on the evolution of television, Rippon also voiced her opinions about how things have changed over the years. “When I started, there was one channel, then two, and maybe three or four, and we all watched the same programmes. Today, we have so many channels, so many choices. People used to gather around the water cooler and talk about the shows they watched, but I think those days are long gone,” she added.
She also expressed her distaste for what she describes as the ‘woke’ era of TV. “I think the difference now is that there’s too much ‘wokeism’ on television. If you look at the shows we loved in the 70s, like Fawlty Towers, we’d never see those on TV today,” she lamented.
Rippon’s comments spark serious questions about the state of TV today, and whether its shift towards political correctness has caused a loss of the magic that made it so compelling in the past.
Read more on this explosive story at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
