Countdown’s Anne Robinson reveals TV bosses warned her not to do her signature move

ANNE Robinson has revealed how TV bosses warned her against doing her signature move.

The new Countdown host admitted she was once told to banish her famous wink by a former BBC managing director.

Assuring fans that her well known gesture will be returning when she takes the helm of the Channel 4 game show next week, Anne told The Sun Online: "I did it on Points of View and the then-managing director of the BBC, when I went to Watchdog where I started, he told me I mustn't do it.

"So I've done it ever since. I have no idea for his reason why, he was just a stupid bloke really."

Going on to explain why she ignored the director's pleas, the 76-year-old added: "My theory is that if you go to school or university to conform, you're really at the back of the bus for getting a job.

"Because when you go for an interview, what you need is to be weird or eccentric because you're going to be so much more appealing to whoever's interviewing you for the job.

"I always thought it was a terrible drawback to conform or to go to school and learn to conform."

Anne started out as a panellist on Question Time in the 1980s and presented TV review show Points Of View.

Then in 1993 she became the writer and presenter of consumer affairs show Watchdog, which remains popular to this day.

But in 2000 she became a household name when she began presenting tough quiz show The Weakest Link which was on TV for ten years.

Now Anne completes an all-female line-up when she joins Rachel Riley and Susie Dent to host Countdown from Monday June 28th.

She replaces Nick Hewer who quit the show in December 2020 after fronting the teatime programme for just under a decade from 2012 to 2021.

On joining the programme, Anne said: "I'm a crossword person and that's why I love the show, it's very authentic and it hasn't got any of those ghastly, shiny floor moments - it's as it should be, I hardly want to call it a game show."

And she's already adding her personal touches to the show, as she explained: "I begged for more female contestants.

"So there's a couple of shows we recorded where we've got two female contestants, two dictionary corner guests that day who were female, Rachel and Susie - we're looking at six women in the studio - and we did punch the air.

"But on the other hand, I believe everything should just be a good mix, to get the best out of the show you need a bit of balance."

Anne Robinson's Countdown episodes start on Channel 4, Monday June 28th at 2.10pm.