Anne Robinson



Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26th September 1944 in Crosby, Merseyside, England) provided the voice of Anne Droid in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways"; the character was a parody of Robinson's TV persona.

She is most famous for hosting the BBC game show The Weakest Link. She also hosted the United States primetime version of the show, which has since ceased production.

Robinson is of Irish Catholic descent, and attended a Roman Catholic Girls School in Merseyside. Her mother, also named Anne Josephine Robinson, was a successful agricultural businesswoman from Ireland.

Robinson's icy persona and monotone voice became infamous on The Weakest Link. Her repeated icy utterance, "You are the weakest link&mdash;g'bye!" became a catchphrase soon after the show started in 2000. An American version of the series was soon commissioned and Robinson ended up hosting both the UK and US versions of the series, although in the US her hosting persona did not appeal to audiences and the series was removed from national network TV and moved into syndication, with a different host.

She began her career as a journalist, and at one time worked for the late, controversial magnate, Robert Maxwell (whom she greatly admired) on the staff of the Daily Mirror. She began appearing on BBC television during the 1980s, on programmes such as Points of View and Watchdog. She also presented a weekly show on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday mornings, which ran from 1988 - 1993. She returned to the station briefly in 1996, sitting in for Jimmy Young on the Lunchtime slot for 2 weeks.

She caused a furore when she appeared on the comedy show Room 101 on 5th March, 2001, and made derisive comments about Welsh people. The persona she adopts for the purposes of The Weakest Link is her own invention. Currently, she also hosts the BBC's outtakes programme, Outtake TV, and the BBC's interactive quiz, Test the Nation.

In 2001 Robinson published her autobiography, Memoirs of an Unfit Mother, in which she describes her former drinking problem.

On 23 April 2006, The Sunday Times Rich List named Anne Robinson as one of the UK richest media personalities, worth £60 million (USD 112 million).