Anne Robinson admits regret over not waiting longer before debuting facelift on TV

Anne Robinson says looking back in hindsight, she wishes that she had waited longer before debuting her facelift on TV.

The presenter, 78, was mocked by some peope after going under the knife when she was around 60 and appearing on The Weakest Link.

Speaking to Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything on Ireland’s RTE, she explained: “When you have cosmetic surgery it is a bit like taking a leg of lamb out of the oven. You have to let it rest for a bit.

“I went on television quite quickly afterwards and it was a famous headline which said, ‘This face is the Weakest Link’ as it was quite blown up.”

The Lancashire-born star doesn’t regret being open about having the cosmetic procedure however.

She said: “I think you are only as sick as your secrets. It is very hard to be pretending you have not had a facelift.

“When I was first on television there were quite a few presenters who were the same age as me and now they are all younger. It seems easier to just be open about it.”

During the interview, she also opened up about her short-lived stint on Countdown.

Robinson, who hosted The Weakest Link from 2000 to 2012, became the host of Countdown last year, but quit in July 2022.

She said: “I tried to be nice on Countdown. I loved it but nothing was ever going to be as wonderful as The Weakest Link or being a newspaper journalist.

“I probably made a mistake thinking I could replicate it on another game show. [Countdown] is a brilliant show but it does not really require a smart-arse presenter.’

She added: “If you were quite obese, I would say ‘What do you do when you are not eating?’. But you can’t do that anymore.”