After decades in the industry, she’s thought to have amassed a sizable £50 million fortune.
But instead of tucking away her hefty nest egg, Anne Robinson has already ‘given it away’ to her daughter and grandchildren to save it from going to the ‘taxman.’
The broadcaster, 79, who has been dating the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles for the last year, said she has ‘spread’ her fortune about to save her family from having to pay up after she dies.
Inheritance tax is charged at 40 per cent on a person’s estate over the value of £325,000, although there are some exemptions – like when passing on property. Many people choose to reduce the amount they pay by giving away some of their wealth to relatives when they are still alive.
Ms Robinson is mother to daughter Emma Wilson, 43, from her marriage to late journalist Charles Wilson, and has two grandchildren; Hudson, 14, and Parker, 13.
‘I’ve given it all away. I don’t want the taxman to have it. I’ve spread it about quite a lot, to the children. They may as well enjoy it now,’ she told Saga magazine.
Anne Robinson, 79, reveals she has ‘given away’ her £50million fortune to her family to save it from the taxman after she dies (pictured in SAGA menu)
Instead of tucking away her hefty nest egg, Anne Robinson has already ‘given it away’ to her daughter and grandchildren (pictured with her daughter Emma Wilson)
She said she has ‘genuinely no idea’ if she is worth £50m, but admitted she doesn’t ‘want for much’ and ‘can’t think there’s anything I really want except my good health and the family happiness.’
The former Weakest Link host said that she’s been told she has ‘got the body of someone in their sixties’ and doesn’t ‘carry weight.’
She said: ‘I run about two miles, one minute on, one minute off, nothing that harms my joints. I do Pilates. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I really don’t eat crap food.’
Despite her generosity, Ms Robinson lives in a Grade II-listed, converted 18th-century barn in the Cotswolds and has two homes in New York – one on Fifth Avenue and another in The Hamptons.
She has finally admitted to being in a romantic relationship with the Queen’s ex-husband, whom she met during a lunch with mutual friends over a year ago.
She said it took her ‘a long time’ to get involved with someone again following the breakdown of her second marriage to John Penrose in 2007.
‘I’d been out of the game for so long. And also I don’t drink. If you don’t drink you’re not as reckless are you? I’ve only just thought of that, but I think it’s probably true,’ she said.
The broadcaster, 79, who has been dating the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles (pictured in March) for the last year, said she has ‘spread’ her fortune about to save her family from having to pay inheritance tax after she dies
Despite her cautious approach to dating, she said that jumping back into dating with the 84-year-old retired Army brigadier was ‘worth the risk’.
She said: ‘I’d say, like everything else I’ve done, it’s always worth the risk. I’m a great believer in surprising yourself by taking risks. Personally and professionally.
‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the worst that can happen is you get some egg on your face, that’s not terrible is it?’
She said she spent ‘at least two years’ feeling like her life was a ‘car crash’ following the end of her marriage to Penrose as her house hadn’t yet been renovated and it was ‘quite bleak here.’
‘You might know it’s time to finish the marriage, but that doesn’t necessarily suggest you’re going to move to something comfy and cosy,’ she said.
She added: ‘I had to get used to it being just me, which was difficult. I was financially okay though and all right socially.
‘It would be 100 times more difficult to leave a marriage at that age for some who did not have those advantages.
‘You’re much more selective about what you’re going to get into a tizz about. Nothing matters that much. You’re not going to change.
She told Saga magazine: ‘I’ve given it all away. I don’t want the taxman to have it. I’ve spread it about quite a lot, to the children. They may as well enjoy it now’
‘Mascaras and men both turn out to be huge disappointments. I’ve never found a perfect mascara.’
While Parker Bowles is still close to the Queen, Ms Robinson said she was also on good terms with her two ex-husbands, up until Wilson’s death two years ago.
‘I’m proud to say both my husbands came to my 70th birthday party,’ she said.
‘Charlie died two years ago, but Johnny lives four miles away. If the family are staying here I usually say, ‘They’re coming down, just join us for as many meals as you want.’
She said she has learned to be a better romantic partner as she’s not ‘impetuous’ and doesn’t ‘have to have anything anymore, adding: ‘That might be because I ‘ve got most of the things I want.’
Best known for her 12-year stint presenting The Weakest Link, for which she earned the nickname Queen of Mean, Ms Robinson said television is now too politically-correct for her to return to the show.
She said: ‘I couldn’t bring my flavour to it anymore. It would be totally politically unacceptable. You can’t say to people: ‘Why are you fat? Do you think you eat too much?’, adding: ‘We’ve all become far too sensitive.’
The former presenter hosted just one series of Countdown in 2021 before stepping down as it was ‘exhausting’ and she had no time to see her grandchildren.’