More on ageism at BBC, presenter told HD tv would be crunch time because of her wrinkles!

[sethstarkaddersmum]

...and then sacked.

here

Miriam O'Reilly, from Countryfile.
''I also remember that in about March 2008, when I expressed my concern about visible signs of ageing effecting my career to Director Louise Pyne she said 'it's time for Botox'.
'Even though I really wanted to keep my job, I didn't want to have Botox.'

will watch with interest....

[Butterbur]

The BBC have always been so hot on promoting equal opportunities for ethnic minorities. I really don't understand how they can have such a blind spot about agism.

I hope Miriam O'Reilly takes them to the cleaners. Nothing else will teach the bastards.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

I know! It is a complete blind spot about the intersection of ageism and sexism and yet it is so damn obvious.
And there was all that fuss when Greg Dyke called the BBC 'hideously white'; what about someone pointing out that the women allowed on tv are 'hideously' young?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

it would be so brilliant if she won.

[HerBeatitude]

This isn't ageism, it's sexism

John Humphries and Jeremy Paxman aren't being told to ahve botox. Neither is John Craven, her former co-presenter.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

[HerBeatitude]

I think it's just sexism.

Old men on the telly are acceptable. Fat men on the telly are acceptable. Ugly men on the telly are acceptable. Hideous, repulsive, almost fascinatingly repellent men on the telly are acceptable.

And women? Almost universally young and beautiful. The occasional odd looking one or fat one is allowed to slip through the net. The occasional older one is allowed to slip through if she was famous when she was young and beautiful, like Germaine Greer or Joan Bakewell. But there is no female to rival the sheer terrifying awfulness of many of the men who are allowed on our TV screens without anyone commenting that their looks are unacceptable to us.

[TheCrackFox]

I hope she wins. the BBC deserves a kick up the arse over its sexist ways.

[claig]

agree with HerBeatitude, it is sexism.

Bruce Forsyth was always on TV and they used to have David Frost on as well.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

'Don't they spend half their lives in equality training?'

according to Jeremy Clarkson they do, perhaps there's not quite as much as he makes out

people who reckon they know all about equality being shit hot on homophobia, racism and disablism while blatantly ignoring sexism is nothing new though....

[sethstarkaddersmum]

how do you reckon they'll defend themselves? I think they'll produce a humiliating montage of all her worst moments, mistakes etc to try and make out she was being dropped because she wasn't good at her job. I'm sure they'll fight dirty.
Good on her for having the guts to do this.

[TheCrackFox]

Do you think they told John Craven to get botox?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

that would be quite splendid.
it would be good to be a fly on the wall for quite a lot of this case.

I'm pessimistic about the outcome though - I can see the BBC arguing that actually it is fine to have a different beauty standard for men and women because we are biologically different blah blah blah, and getting away with it.

[TryLikingClarity]

Shocking!

I'm 26 and I want to see people from a range of ages on the TV. I don't know who they are aiming these beautiful, tanned, smooth faced women to. Surely normal people at home watching TV don't mind who is presenting.

[annoyingdevil]

It's sexism. I was watching the Paul O'Grady chat show this evening, and he's got to be pushing 70. Could you ever imagine a woman of that age presenting a prime time chat show?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

latest from the tribunal
(I wonder if anyone other than the DM is reporting this?)

'Cross-examining, the BBC?s lawyer Jason Galbraith-Marten accused Miss O?Reilly of ?embellishing? her evidence.
He said: ?This wasn?t a manager telling you to get Botox to save your career, this was a friend.
?She is a friend of yours. This was a chat with a friend about Botox.?
Miss O?Reilly replied: ?I was talking with Louise about the culture of ageism.?
Mr Galbraith-Marten then suggested the ?white gap? on her hair parting was a ?bald patch? and her colleagues were trying to avoid presenting her in an unflattering way.
She replied: ?I do not have a bald patch. It?s just the way my hair falls.'

how to humiliate someone in court....

[ColdComfortFarm]

paul o'grady is 55! Five years older than Lorraine Kelly.

[TryLikingClarity]

I was watching Breakfast on BBC1 this morning at 7am when I was up with DS.

The female presenter was a good deal older than the women I'm used to seeing. I didn't catch her name, but she was blonde, had lots of make-up on but noticeable wrinkles and saggy neck.

I have to admit I did a bit of a double take as I wasn't expecting to see an older women on TV.

She was wearing this crazy patterned top though, it was mind-boggling to look at... I wondered if BBC put her in that to detract from her sagging.

Was good to see an older lady though :)

[DamselInDisgrace]

That cross-examination is awful. Even if she had a bald patch that should be no reason at all to remove her from our screens. Can't we have tv presenters who (non-tokenistically) reflect how people actually look?

[annoyingdevil]

ooops, apologies to Paul O'Grady. He's obviously not aging too well. My point is that you would never see an older woman presenting a prime time chat show. Lorraine Kelly just presents a 'fluffy' lifestyle show.

[sethstarkaddersmum]

I am astonished that Lorraine Kelly is 50. From the photos online she looks about 40 but could easily be younger. (I never watch her on tv so don't know if she looks older on tv than in soft-focus pics.) I don't think Paul O'Grady looks 70 but he certainly looks his age and more.
Which just underlines the point, I think, that you have to be much better-preserved as a woman than as a man to be allowed on tv at the same age....

which men are bald or receding on tv, apart from Harry Hill? (am not disbelieving, just can't think of any myself).