Comedian, writer and presenter Ruby Wax has hit out at the British TV industry for being obsessed with pretty young girls. In this week's Closer magazine Wax claims that she is being ignored by TV bosses because she is "too old".
Meanwhile the BBC has today announced that Sophie Raworth, 37, will replace Anna Ford, 62, as the face of the One O'Clock News when Ford retires from newsreading after 28 years.
Wax, 52, claims: "TV has gone back to the 50s in its attitude to female presenters. They just want a pretty face." Although she has tried to oblige - with regular Botox injections and a size 12 figure - her next TV assignment is on a TV shopping channel. "I used to joke with Jennifer Saunders that being on QVC meant you were at the end of the line career-wise. And now it's happening," she said.
Has Wax got a point? How many women stay on our TV screens past their 50th birthday without being forced to take on stereo-typed roles?
Is ageism against women TV presenters and personalities as endemic in the UK TV business as it is in Hollywood, and if so, why? Is the media purely providing what the public wants to see, or setting a sexist and ageist agenda? And what, if anything, should be done?
