Countryfile presenter warned over wrinkles
5 November, 2010
Former Countryfile presenter Miriam O’Reilly was warned “to be careful with those wrinkles when high definition comes in” just nine months before she was dropped from the programme by the BBC, a tribunal has heard.
O’Reilly, 53, is suing the broadcaster for sex and age discrimination after losing her job when the show was moved to a primetime slot.
In a witness statement handed to the tribunal, she said comments by Countryfile’s director Dean Jones “sent a shiver down my spine” when he warned her the high definition could be “crunch time” for her BBC TV career in February 2008.
In the statement, she said: “I do not believe that a man would be asked about his wrinkles nor offered hair dye.
“It was clear to me that this was a reflection of the BBC’s view that women on TV needed to look young.”O’Reilly was told she would no longer be working on the rural affairs programme in November 2008.
She said she was “devastated” by the news that she and three other female presenters would lose their jobs when the show relaunched in April 2009 with Julia Bradbury, then 38, and Katie Knapman, then 36.
In her witness statement, she said she was not told why she would not have a role on the programme in its new prime-time slot, only that the show was being “refreshed”.
Three other female Countryfile presenters - Michaela Strachan, 42, Juliet Morris, 52, and Charlotte Smith, 44 - were also dropped from the show, O’Reilly said.
Meanwhile, the show’s main presenter John Craven, 68, and Adam Henson, who was in his 40s, were to be kept on with Ben Fogle, 35, who was given Country Tracks to present.
She added there was nothing in the new version of the show, which now airs at 7pm on Sunday nights, that she could not have done.
The programme is co-presented by Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker.
The tribunal is expected to hear from former BBC controller Jay Hunt, and will look at footage of Ms O’Reilly’s work along with current examples of the show.
The tribunal, which is expected to last 12 days, was adjourned to Friday to allow the bench to watch video footage.
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