Angela Rippon blasts ex-BBC boss for 'patronising twaddle'

Angela Rippon has blasted a former BBC director general, and claimed he tried to make her quit aged 50.

The 75-year-old newsreader and presenter has hit out at John Birt, and alleged he suggested she had "had her day" at a party in 1996.

Speaking to Woman\'s Weekly magazine, she explained: "What he said was, \'Angela, you\'ve had your day and you have to make room for the other women coming up behind you\'.

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"I don\'t know what John Birt is doing now, but I\'m working full pelt and into next year, too, if not beyond.

"I\'m well into my 70s and I\'m still doing a full-time job in television and broadcasting, so I suppose that\'s my revenge for having to listen to that kind of patronising twaddle!"

Angela first began her TV career back in 1966, and she is also embracing other projects, including a novel and children\'s books.

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She added: "I\'ve got lots of things I want to do, but I also want to go on enjoying life."

The \'Nine O\'Clock\' news presenter previously opened up on the former Beeb boss\' apparent attempt to get rid of her, and she is glad women are treated equally in the newsroom at this stage.

She said: "What\'s really good is that nobody would dare say that to a woman today. Imagine the director general telling someone like Katya Adler, \'Darling, it\'s time to stop.\' Not going to happen."

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Angela - who is still a regular on TV on BBC consumer show \'Rip Off Britain\', which she hosts with Julia Somerville and Gloria Hunniford - added: "It comes down to the individual.

"If you stand your ground and say, \'I\'m here to stay\', then you will. I never had a problem. Yes, there were some women who were there as tokens.

"We have got to the stage where we can admit that. But the ones who survived did so because they could do the job as well as men, if not better."