Latest news with #AngelaRippon
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Broadcaster Angela Rippon looks back: ‘I want to age disgracefully. It's much more fun'
Born in 1944 in Plymouth, Angela Rippon is a British journalist, newsreader and presenter. Her career began at 17 as a photojournalist for the Western Morning News. In 1975, she became the first female journalist to permanently present the BBC national news; she has since hosted Top Gear, Antiques Roadshow and Rip-Off Britain as well as becoming the oldest contestant to compete on Strictly Come Dancing, in 2023. She is an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society and is supporting the charity's Forget Me Not appeal. This photo was taken for the cover of the 1980s exercise LP Shape Up and Dance. Normally, I would have had bare feet if I were dancing, but the producers asked me to wear little pink shoes, which seemed incongruous. Nevertheless, I was quite happy in this outfit. What's fascinating is that I still meet women who ask me, 'Have you got a spare copy? Mine's worn out.' At the time, I was married and living in Devon. I had a horse, two dogs and two cats, and a large garden. I was just about to stop reading the news as I was going to be one of the 'famous five' on ITV's TV-am, along with Michael Parkinson, David Frost, Anna Ford and Robert Kee. We'd not had breakfast television in Britain before, so the show felt quite revolutionary. It all ended in tears, however, because they decided they couldn't afford Anna and me, which was crazy. As we discovered subsequently, we were the cheapest of the five. But they still got rid of us. For a whole year after this debacle, I thought my career was over. In fact, one of the BBC executives is on record as saying, 'Angela Rippon will never work for the BBC again.' Back then there was no way that if you worked for ITV, you could also work for BBC. Then, one day my agent called and said, 'Angela, how would you like to work in America?' I was flown to Boston and became an arts and entertainment correspondent for WHDH-TV. I eventually returned home, armed with an Emmy I had won for a documentary I'd made, and I was able to work again. That whole period was very chaotic, at times scary, but exciting. What would I have done if it was the end of my career? I would have just picked up a camera and applied for jobs as a photojournalist again. Esther Rantzen, who's a great mate, and her husband, Desmond, when he was alive, always used to say, 'I don't know anybody who's reinvented themselves as much as you.' I don't see it as reinventing. It's just that I've been around for a long time, and as television has evolved, I've been fortunate to be able to move with it. Take, for example, when I appeared on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas show in 1976. Certain people in the press asked, 'How can you ever go back to reading the news again?' If I'd gone back to the desk wearing dangly earrings and sequins, yes, maybe there would have been a problem. But just because newsreaders broadcast doom and gloom, it doesn't mean that is who we are. There's another side to our characters, and maybe I opened the door to show that we're all human underneath. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I would ring my parents every week. There were jobs I wouldn't let my mother, Edna, know about. Such as when I went diving with great white sharks. Or when I went to Northern Ireland – a dangerous place to work in the 1970s. In 2003, I had just come off air at LBC when I noticed lots of missed calls from my mum. When I called her back, she said, 'Angela, you've got to be very brave, but your father's died.' He'd had a massive heart attack. My parents had been married for 62 years and they were joined at the hip. His death was a huge blow for my mum. After that, she started to have transient ischemic attacks – mini strokes – and I think that's what triggered her dementia. Gradually, her behaviour became more erratic and her character changed. She became agoraphobic and very distrustful of people. She used to have bursts of temper and say the most terrible things. In 2004, a doctor told us she had vascular dementia and had been declining for about a year. She died in 2009. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion It took me a long time to realise how this disease was going to affect her and what it was going to mean for me as her main carer. Not many people talked about dementia publicly in the 2000s, and I remember being interviewed by someone from the Daily Mail. The journalist said to me, 'Aren't you embarrassed to be talking about this?' I said, 'No, why should I be? This is a disease of the brain. It's the brain being eaten away and dying.' There was such a stigma back then, and it is so important we do not keep dementia hidden. I had to learn quickly that you can't take offence when someone with dementia says something cruel. Instead, you work with it. There was one occasion when my mum was in hospital and I could hear her before I got into the ward. She was screaming and being very abusive to the nurse, who was trying to take her blood pressure. I walked in and said, 'Mummy, play nice.' She started shouting at me, 'Get me out of this place. What have you put me in here for?' I just let her rage for a little while, and then I said, 'Mummy, I've just come from home, and I have to tell you, the camellias are looking amazing at the moment. The garden is fantastic.' That brought her down, and I asked the nurse to bring her a cup of tea. When she came back, my mother said, 'Angela, have you met my young friend here? She's the nicest nurse on the ward.' When it comes to getting older, I have decided I want to age disgracefully. It's much more fun. Age is just a number on a piece of paper and I have to keep energised to do my job. I covered Her Majesty the Queen's funeral for Australian television and I was on air live for over 14 hours. We had to start at two o'clock in the morning. You can't do that if you're not fit. How do I stay in shape? I still dance – I go to ballet class, and I do pilates. Yesterday, at tennis, there were four of us playing doubles and I was the youngest. We played for two hours. Diet is important, too. I have an intolerance to dairy products, so I have hot water with lemon, herb teas, or maybe just a couple of cups of black coffee, and lots and lots of water. When this was taken, I would not have expected to still be working at 80. My accountant laughs at me all the time because ever since I was 50, I've been saying, 'Well, I may not be working next year.' Of course, there will be a point at which I retire. The moment I think, 'Ah, for crying out loud, I really don't want to do this today,' I'll know it's over. Or maybe the phone will just stop ringing. What then? I'll adopt a dog. A mature one – there's no point in me having a puppy as I'm single and I should die before it. But for now there's no need. I still wake up every morning, stretch for 10 minutes, and think, 'Excellent. Another great day ahead.'
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Watch: Queen shakes hands with a hedge
The Queen gamely shook hands with someone dressed up as a hedge while attending a Big Lunch event celebrating biodiversity. Her Majesty, draped in a long coat, enjoyed a cup of tea and joked about stepping into a 'hurricane' as the sky clouded amid chilly gusts of wind. The event, her first Big Lunch since becoming Queen, was held at the new Eden Dock in Canary Wharf, a 'vibrant, biodiverse space' created by the Eden Project in collaboration with the Canary Wharf Group (CWG). As the Queen made her way toward guests enjoying afternoon tea on decorated outdoor tables, she was introduced to two 'moss people', who represented sculptures installed at the site to increase biodiversity. 'Hello, can I shake your hand?' she said, seemingly unfazed, before peering closer and asking: 'Can you see out of them?' The two figures, covered head to toe in leaves, shook their heads, prompting the Queen to chuckle. Sir Nigel Wilson, chairman of CWG, told the Queen he had recently visited the National Gallery, where the coronation state portraits were unveiled. 'I saw your portrait the other day,' he said. 'It is fantastic, much better than Charles's.' The Queen gave an awkward laugh before being greeted by Angela Rippon, charity ambassador for the Big Lunch, and listening to the London Docklands Singers perform America from West Side Story. She admired a huge cake adorned with vibrant summer flowers, which was made using food that would otherwise have been wasted, and dehydrated flowers from the Eden Project's gardens in Cornwall. As the Queen chatted to local residents, the wind picked up and the grey clouds threatened rain. 'I've come into a hurricane,' she joked, before pointing to someone's coat and saying: 'That's very sensible, I would like to borrow your jacket.' When an aide asked if she wanted a drink, the Queen replied: 'Oh, I would love a cup of tea.' 'One of my favourite places in the world' 'It is jolly cold,' she said, before admiring another show-stopping cake, this one featuring depictions of dishes created by the finalists in The Big Lunch Recipe Search. It included chilli bites, a strawberry and vanilla cheesecake, wild garlic pin wheels and butternut squash empanadas. Camilla, patron of The Big Lunch, a charity initiative formed in 2009, announced that Melanie Brooke, an SEN teacher from Westbury, Wiltshire, was the overall winner, prompting the former chef to break down in tears. Earlier, the Queen revealed that she and the King were hoping to become joint patrons of the Garden Museum, which she said was 'one of my favourite places in the world'. A keen gardener, the Queen was visiting the Lambeth museum's British Flowers Week exhibition, featuring immersive floral installations celebrating local, seasonal flowers. Her Majesty admired a photograph of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, taken by Cecil Beaton in 1939. 'I always think this one is so lovely, in her white dress,' she said. While viewing photographs and sketches of Mr Beaton's set designs for the film My Fair Lady, she added: 'It's just wonderful, you just can't beat that set. I've watched the film time and time again.' In the museum's Clore Learning Space, Camilla joined pupils from Evelyn Grace Academy and Platanos College, who were learning about the biology of the tea plant and making herbal tea bags. Asked what flavour tea she liked, the Queen replied: 'I like mint and a bit of lemon, it helps your digestion.' She was then invited to make her own mint tea bag, saying that she would sample it tonight.
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Wes Streeting backs Angela Rippon's dance day to help ‘build healthy society'
Wes Streeting has backed veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon's calls for the public to take part in a national dance day this weekend. The Strictly Come Dancing star is spearheading an initiative which will see dance events held across the UK on Sunday in an attempt to 'get the nation fit'. The Health Secretary supported the move, saying it will 'support this Government's mission to rebuild the NHS and shift care from sickness to prevention'. The Government's 10-year programme of reform for the health service aims to improve preventative care and ease pressure on waiting lists by reducing the amount of time people are unwell. 'Through our 10-year health plan we will build a healthy society,' Mr Streeting said. 'Even if you've got two left feet, brilliant initiatives like Angela's are a great way to keep fit, kick up your heels, and meet others – having a positive impact on your health and wellbeing while reducing your risk of developing serious illnesses.' The national dance day will see events at community centres, dance clubs, studios and hospitals, involving 55,000 dance teachers. Rippon said: 'This is a day about sharing the incredible power of dance. It really is the perfect way to maintain a strong and healthy body throughout your life into your senior years. 'You get fit, stay fit, and have a huge amount of fun. Good for your mind, good for your body, and good for society. That's why we have the backing of the NHS and the Department of Health. 'I defy anyone to dance without a smile on your face – and there's still time to get involved, by logging on to our website and finding an event near you.' Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said: 'Keeping physically active is one of the best ways to maintain health – and dance is an excellent way to do this, whilst maintaining balance, social connections and being enjoyable at all ages.' Let's Dance! will take place across the UK at venues including Blackpool Winter Gardens and the Eden Project in Cornwall, while Alexander Stadium in Birmingham will host the Big Brummie Bhangrathon. To find out more visit:
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wes Streeting backs Angela Rippon's dance day to help ‘build healthy society'
Wes Streeting has backed veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon's calls for the public to take part in a national dance day this weekend. The Strictly Come Dancing star is spearheading an initiative which will see dance events held across the UK on Sunday in an attempt to 'get the nation fit'. The Health Secretary supported the move, saying it will 'support this Government's mission to rebuild the NHS and shift care from sickness to prevention'. The Government's 10-year programme of reform for the health service aims to improve preventative care and ease pressure on waiting lists by reducing the amount of time people are unwell. 'Through our 10-year health plan we will build a healthy society,' Mr Streeting said. 'Even if you've got two left feet, brilliant initiatives like Angela's are a great way to keep fit, kick up your heels, and meet others – having a positive impact on your health and wellbeing while reducing your risk of developing serious illnesses.' The national dance day will see events at community centres, dance clubs, studios and hospitals, involving 55,000 dance teachers. Rippon said: 'This is a day about sharing the incredible power of dance. It really is the perfect way to maintain a strong and healthy body throughout your life into your senior years. 'You get fit, stay fit, and have a huge amount of fun. Good for your mind, good for your body, and good for society. That's why we have the backing of the NHS and the Department of Health. 'I defy anyone to dance without a smile on your face – and there's still time to get involved, by logging on to our website and finding an event near you.' Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said: 'Keeping physically active is one of the best ways to maintain health – and dance is an excellent way to do this, whilst maintaining balance, social connections and being enjoyable at all ages.' Let's Dance! will take place across the UK at venues including Blackpool Winter Gardens and the Eden Project in Cornwall, while Alexander Stadium in Birmingham will host the Big Brummie Bhangrathon. To find out more visit:
