27 September 2023 , 19:45
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Strictly sensation Angela Rippon says her “flexible friends” have proved age is just a number.
Almost fifty years on from her most memorable moment the veteran TV presenter - who turns 79 in a fortnight - dazzled on the dance floor once more in a routine that defied age - and gravity. Her risqué but effortless leg raise was a nod to her star turn on the Morecambe & Wise Show in 1976. And in 2023 her pins are once again the talk of Britain.
Angela said: “I’m feeling absolutely fine. I am reasonably fit for my age - and very flexible. That helps! My legs? It’s a party trick. I am lucky I am able to touch my nose with my knee, but it’s not a dance is it? It’s over and done with now, but I know I will have to produce a lot more quality. But it was a lovely memory and incredible to think it was almost 50-years ago and yet people still remember.”
Angela was just 31 and presenting BBC One’s Nine O’Clock News when her high-kicking dance routine on the comics’ Christmas special stunned the nation. In a sketch consistently voted one of TV’s most memorable moments, she was seen reading the news, saying: “A report on the economy has just come through from Number 11 Downing Street.
Angela on Strictly (PA)
High-kicking Angela in 1982 (Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)The Chancellor’s statement reads as follows: ‘There may be trouble ahead. But while there’s moonlight and music and love’…” before breaking into a sizzling, high-kick routine in a tight-fitting ivory dress that left little to the imagination. The skit made her an instant sex symbol. And after the weekend’s similarly rangy display, that status has been reconfirmed.
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She said: “Sex symbol? It’s a huge compliment, but a big surprise. I am enormously flattered, I mean, who wouldn’t be? I was very nervous before Saturday night because this is off-the-scale compared to anything I have done. But I decided it’s a privilege at my age and I am wearing the fact I am 78 [79 on October 12] as a badge of honour.
“I was loading my shopping trolley the other day and someone approached and thanked me, saying ‘women our age and hair colour are invisible’. And that’s the thing - you can’t write people off because of what it says on their birth certificate. I am a great advocate for our ageing population and if you are able to do something that is fun, and not a chore, like dancing, and I can get that across, well, that will be my glitter ball trophy right there.”
Plymouth-born Angela, who is partnered by Kai Widdrington, 28, said: “I am in the studio six-hours-a-day and it’s a physical effort, but I am loving every second of it and learning so much. It’s great for the body and great for the mind and the whole thing is bringing me unbridled joy. I hope some of that inspires others and shows that your senior years don’t have to be isolated and lonely, they can be happy.”