Who is Angela Rippon? Meet the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 contestant and broadcasting legend
The broadcaster will take on American Smooth Strictly Come Dancing reaches Blackpool.
Angela Rippon will no doubt be pulling out all the stops as Strictly Come Dancing finally reaches the bright lights of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom and its historic dance floor this weekend.
The broadcaster, who at 79 is the oldest contestant in Strictly history, found herself in the bottom two with pro dance partner Kai Widdrington last Sunday night.
Angela and Kai were saved by the judges after the dreaded dance-off against Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley - although head judge Shirley Ballas revealed had it come down to her for the decider, she would have picked to save Krishnan.
The couple also won a dance-off against Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk in Week 7, after scoring 28 points for their waltz to Fascination by Nat King Cole, and placing seventh on the leaderboard.
Last weekend, Angela gave us more splits action in her paso doble to Madonna's Hung Up, scoring 32 points and placing fifth on the Strictly leaderboard.
This weekend, the couple will perform the American Smooth to Tea for Two by Ella Fitzgerald. They'll no doubt be hoping to top their highest score of the competition so far, which is a very decent 34 - awarded for their fantastic tango to Tangier by Sexteto Mayor.
Will they sail through to Week 10 or end up in the dance-off for the third time? We'll have to tune in to find out!
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 Przystał.
Here's everything you need to know about Angela Rippon, including what she had to say about the show.
Who is Angela Rippon?
Age: 79
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.
Angela Rippon's Strictly journey so far
Scoreboard
Week One: Cha Cha Cha (7+7+7+7) = 28
Week Two: Foxtrot (8+8+7+8) = 31
Week Three: Quickstep (7+7+6+6) = 26
Week Four: Rumba (8+7+8+8) = 31
Week Five: Tango (8+9+8+9) = 34
Week Six: Charleston (9+8+8+8) = 33
Week Seven: Waltz (7+8+6+7) = 28
Week Eight: Paso Doble (8+8+8+8) = 32
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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 will continue on Saturday 18th November at 6:40pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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