Anne Robinson on Countdown: Host responds to criticism she's too mean for role

28 June 2021, 12:19

Anne Robinson on Lorraine. Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock

By Jenny Mensah

The presenter has been announced as the new host of Countdown, but has admitted that she's mostly unaware of the online criticism.

Anne Robinson has responded to criticism she's too mean for Countdown because of her past on The Weakest Link and admitted she rarely sees half of it.

The TV personality was announced as the new host for the much-loved Channel 4 show, which sees contestants try to crack word and number-based tasks, but not everyone was happy about her appointment to the role.

🕑 Channel 4's oldest show is back, with its first-ever female host.

A historic moment in the history of Countdown. Anne Robinson joins @susie_dent & @RachelRileyRR to complete the new all-female lineup on this iconic show. The new series starts on Monday at 2.10pm. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/JDRFrL0CmZ
— Channel 4 (@Channel4) June 26, 2021

Some fans of the show felt Anne's mean and no-nonsense approach from The Weakest Link was not wanted on the more jovial countdown.

Others even threatened to complain to Ofcom if she started to "harass or bully contestants".

Asked by the BBC about the criticism, Robinson said: "What I do, because I'm not technically able to understand Facebook or Instagram or Twitter, I don't have any of those, so I can go on thinking everyone thinks I'm wonderful. It saves a lot of grief and it saves a lot of time."

On the differences between the two shows themselves, she wrote: "[The contestants] have not been cast as we did on Weakest Link, to expect and enjoy being teased".

Suggesting show won't be totally getting rid of her cutting wit, the 76-year-old added: "On the other hand, there would be no point in hiring me and not hiring Huw Edwards."

Though Robinson will be the first woman to host Countdown, it's a line which she says makes her 'groan'.

"When Channel 4 said to me 'you'll be the first woman', I groaned, because I was rather hoping we'd got past the stage of being completely astonished that a woman can do the same job as a man," she said ahead of her debut.

"Maybe we haven't. You might as well say I'm the first presenter of Countdown who's got O-negative blood."

Meanwhile, Robinson's interview has been released as the BBC has announced the return of a special series of The Weakest Link with Romesh Ranganathan as its presenter.