Of her own fame, accidental or otherwise, Rippon is clear. "I'd worked in newspapers for five years and worked in television as a producer and director as well as a presenter for 10 years. Nobody really made a big deal out of it because I was only supposed to be filling in for Richard Baker, who'd gone on holiday. It wasn't as if I was a tea girl who was suddenly put in front the camera.

"It was the reaction that caused any pressure there was. It was a ridiculous pressure that was completely manufactured. Because ITN then felt they had to appoint a woman, who turned out to be Anna Ford. Every day there was all this stuff saying that we were terrible rivals, which was nonsense because we actually became great friends."

Today, Rippon is realistic and utterly comfortable about her status, and recognises that, in a fast-moving media world, it's the time of Katie Derham, Kirsty Young and all the other anchors she paved the way for.

"When I finished with ITN in the summer," she says, "it's unlikely that anyone's going to ask me to come back and do current affairs. So I don't have that same kind of image to protect any more. I can do things now which are completely off the wall. I could retire tomorrow if I wanted, or I can go on doing silly things."

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