Fiona Bruce: Age is an issue for women on TV

Television newsreader and presenter Fiona Bruce (Getty Images)

BBC newsreader Fiona Bruce has complained that age is still a problem for women working in TV.

But Bruce, 48, who dyes her hair to cover her greys when she reads the news, said that there was no point getting angry about the double standards in the industry.

The Antiques Roadshow presenter told Reader's Digest: "Age is definitely an issue for women in TV.

"So far, it hasn't been for me, but I know I need to make the best of myself... I have a few grey hairs. I dye them. I don't let my grey hair show when I'm reading the news."

Bruce said that she would not consider cosmetic surgery as her husband would never forgive her.

But she said: "Of course, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if I was a 48-year-old man!

"I used to get cross about that, but what's the point? I'm never going to change things on my own. If age does become an issue, I'll deal with it."

In February, the BBC's then director general Mark Thompson admitted that the "BBC has a case to answer about the way it treats older women on the air".

Bruce, who used to present Crimewatch, revealed that she had many ambitions for life after television, including working as a magistrate.

"You don't present a show like Crimewatch without developing a real respect for the justice system in this country," she told the October issue of the magazine.

PA