“Weakest link” hostess Robinson says show aids female on-air talent

The Weakest Link hostess Anne Robinson says that the success of the game show has represented a break-through for middle-aged women in television. In an interview with Reuters in Los Angeles, Robinson, who is 56, said: “It is a thrill that other women of my age have got a chance on television that they might not have had before. … The show has been sold to 28 countries and most of them have had to hire a woman in the afternoon of her years and have her dye her hair red. A guy probably couldn’t get away with saying half the things I say.” (The London Star reported Thursday that a traditional “Punch and Judy” puppeteer has replaced one of the puppets in his act with one that looks like Robinson. Michael Fitch told the newspaper: “She wakes up Mr. Punch and says ‘You are the weakest link, goodbye.’ Mr. Punch then hits her on the head with his stick.”)