Who is Angela Rippon? Meet the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 contestant and broadcasting legend
The broadcaster blew the judges away with her first performance on Strictly Come Dancing.
Angela Rippon might be the oldest contestant in Strictly Come Dancing history, but the 78-year-old proved on last week's first live show that she's not just there to make up the numbers.
The broadcasting legend earned positive comments from the judges and no shortage of admiration from viewers at home for her Cha Cha to Get the Party Started by Shirley Bassey, finishing joint sixth in the leaderboard with an impressive score of 28.
Now Rippon and her professional partner Kai Widdrington will take to the dancefloor for a second time tonight as they aim to build on their promising start and avoid the first dance-off of the 2023 season.
This time around they'll be performing a Foxtrot to You Make Me Feel So Young by Frank Sinatra – will there be any surprises that live up to the incredible high kick which had Strictly fans in awe last week?
After a strong start, Angela will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner Hamza Yassin, who lifted the Glitterball with his professional dancing parter Jowita Przystal.
Here's everything you need to know about Angela Rippon, including what she had to say about the show.
Who is Angela Rippon?
Age: 78
Job: Journalist, television presenter
Instagram: @theangelarippon
Twitter: @TheAngelaRippon
Strictly partner: Kai Widdrington
Angela Rippon is one of the longest-serving broadcasters on British television today, having started her career in 1966 as a reporter for BBC South West.
She went on to become one of the first female newsreaders to regularly lead a nationwide programme, taking a permanent position on BBC One's Nine O'Clock News from 1975.
Less formal projects later presented themselves, with Angela completing stints on Top Gear and Come Dancing, as well as making a memorable cameo appearance on an episode of Morecambe and Wise.
Most recently, she has hosted consumer affairs show Rip Off Britain.
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Angela Rippon's Strictly journey so far
Scoreboard
Week One: Cha Cha Cha (7+7+7+7) = 28
What has Angela Rippon said about joining Strictly Come Dancing?
Angela said in a statement: "Having been a fan of Strictly since day one, and as a former presenter of Come Dancing, this will be quite an adventure for me.
"A scary one, considering I'm about to be 79. But I’m really looking forward to the challenge, and perhaps being able to learn to dance the Argentinian Tango!"
While appearing on The One Show on Friday 4th August, she added: "The serious reason behind doing it is because I’ve been advocating... that dance is the complete full mind and body exercise for everybody, regardless of your age, but particularly for people as they get older.
"And as I'm now 78, and will be 79 when we’re actually doing the programme… it would be wonderful if I could last long enough, a few weeks, and demonstrate even at my age that it is genuinely is possible for people that are older to be able to dance, to keep fit and strong, and help with their posture and balance, and to feel a million dollars."
In a video shared to Twitter, Angela said that Strictly Come Dancing could be "the craziest thing I have ever done".
When does Strictly Come Dancing air?
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 airs every weekend on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 30th September at 6:20pm. The results show will air on Sunday 1st October on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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