Anne Robinson has revealed she ‘begged’ Countdown bosses to book more women to compete on the show as she takes over as host.
On Friday, former Apprentice star Nick made his final appearance on Countdown after first taking up the role a decade ago – with Anne set to become the first woman to present the programme next week.
The 76-year-old revealed she was unimpressed with the number of men competing, and urged to redress the gender balance on the Channel 4 show.
‘It seemed to me that the majority of contestants were male,’ Anne told the Daily Star.
‘I did say, “You have got to persuade women to come on”. It’s something I begged they did more of. We’ve now got many more female contestants.’
She added: ‘I suspect women don’t automatically think they’re brilliant at something. Whereas men do, even if they haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re doing.’
Anne will head up an all-female presenting trio, with Rachel Riley and Susie Dent set to appear alongside her.
‘There are one or two shows we’ve recorded where we had a female guest in dictionary corner and two female contestants,’ Anne went on to say.
It comes after Countdown star Nick Hewer has expressed his hope that viewers will be ‘generous’ towards new host Anne when she takes over.
He is to be replaced by Anne on Monday, who has vowed to be kinder to the Countdown competitors after striking fear in the hearts of Weakest Link players during her tenure on the programme.
Ahead of her debut on Countdown, Anne made some cutting remarks about Nick, stating on Good Morning Britain: ‘I know that you were looking at that clock for 10 years and eating hundreds of Ripple chocolate bars.’
While she wished him a ‘wonderful retirement’, she then added: ‘I don’t know how long I’ll go on but as you know, women do last longer in jobs than men.’
Countdown returns on Monday at 2.10pm on Channel 4.
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