HOST WITH THE MOST
Meet Anna Richardson: Love, Loss & Dementia host whose father Canon Jim Richardson lives with Alzheimer’s disease
Plus we take a look at how Anna got her big break in TV
OVER the years Anna Richardson has seen her star soar as one of the UK's leading TV hosts.
In October 2024, the popular presenter bravely opened up about her father having Alzheimer's in the documentary Love, Loss & Dementia.
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Anna Richardson was born on September 27, 1970, in Wellington, Shropshire.
She was privately educated at The School of St Mary and St Anne, a High Church school, in a small village in Staffordshire.
Growing up her father was a vicar and her mother taught religious education.
Anna got her big break when she started her TV career at Channel 4's The Big Breakfast in the early noughties, before joining ITV's Love Bites.
Anna has previously opened up about her desire to start a family.
In August 2021, she told the : "I'm very conscious of the fact I sort of forgot to have kids.
“Suddenly you wake up, you have the menopause, and it really is too late and that's quite freaky.
“You think you have all the time in the world, then life goes past and you realise it's no longer possible.
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“Where does that leave me? And where should I put my love?”
Anna is the co-founder of mental health service Mindbox - a 24 hour online therapy centre that supports people struggling with stress and anxiety.
Naked Attraction's Anna Richardson reveals reality of friendship with ex Sue Perkins
In 2024, she presented the documentary Love, Loss & Dementia where she bravely opened up about her father, Canon Jim Richardso,n having Alzheimer's disease.
Becoming a TV star
Anna's TV career really took off in 2008, when she presented Supersize vs Superskinny for Channel 4.
The same year she began fronting The Sex Education Show.
In May 2012, she became the host of Secret Eaters and the following year presented How Not To Get Old alongside Louise Redknapp.
From 2016 until 2019 she was the face of Supershoppers with co-presenter Sabrina Grant.
I’m not interested in being labelled gay or straight, my sexuality is fluid. I’m just me
Anna Richardson
Anna was the host of Channel 4's documentary Sex In Lockdown in 2020.
The TV star also presented the reboot of Changing Rooms in 2021.
However her biggest show to date is the cheeky dating show Naked Attraction, which involves a clothed single person being presented with six nude potential partners.
Each is hidden behind a coloured booth, revealing the contestants' genitals first before gradually moving upwards.
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Past loves
Following the breakdown of her 18-year relationship with TV director Charles Martin, Anna began dating former Great British Bake Off host Sue Perkins.
The pair met at a Halloween party in 2013 and quickly became a couple.
Anna told in 2015: "For me, it’s just a case of I am who I am.
"I’m not interested in being labelled gay or straight, my sexuality is fluid. I’m just me.
''I just happen to have fallen in love with a woman – simple as that.’’
I can experience amazing sex like I had in my twenties. It is possible to recapture it, but it takes work.
Anna Richardson
Sadly in June 2021, it was revealed Anna and Sue had split up.
It was reported that the pair split because they were in different places about starting a family — and couldn't decide on the right time.
The two remain close friends following the end of their relationship.
Moving on
A year after splitting from Sue, Anna had a new partner, Simon Marks.
She previously revealed she met her boyfriend through friends and admitted she was "lucky" to find someone she is compatible with.
She said: “I'm dating, I've got a boyfriend — and already my boyfriend has said to me 'I haven't spent enough time with you', so his love language is time — he needs my time to feel loved.
"Whereas actually, I quite like to receive texts saying 'I'm thinking about you and I love you'.
"So people need to be aware of how their partner does their love language."
In June 2023, she told : “There’s something wonderful about meeting somebody new that makes you realise, ‘Oh, I’m not dead from the waist down!
"Actually, I can experience amazing sex like I had in my twenties.
"It is possible to recapture it, but it takes work.”
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