TV's Sally Magnusson was told she was too old to present BBC's Crimewatch - at 43
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She has been a prominent figure on TV screens for more than 30 years, covering some of the country’s biggest new stories.
But Sally Magnusson has revealed that she was once turned down for a role - because she was ‘too old’.
Following the death of her friend and Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando, who was shot and killed on her doorstep in London in 1999, Ms Magnusson, then aged 43, was asked if she would like to consider joining the show.
After mulling it over, her agent informed bosses she was interested. But in a Radio Times interview she has recalled how that was the one and only time in her career she was told she was ‘too old for a job’.
She said: ‘I got an embarrassed call from an executive saying they wanted somebody younger. It was a bit of a blow as it had never been stated to me so explicitly before.’
The 69-year-old broadcaster was speaking as she prepares to step down from her role at the helm of BBC’s flagship Reporting Scotland show after 27 years.
She will present the news programme for the last time on April 4, having covered some of the UK’s top stories including the deaths of the Queen, Prince Philip and First Minister Donald Dewar.
She has also anchored coverage of ‘countless’ elections as well as reporting on the Clutha tragedy in Glasgow when 10 people were killed when a helicopter crashed into the pub, and fronting live tributes from France during the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
The broadcaster previously admitted that leaving the show would be a ‘real wrench’.
But after losing her mother Mamie to Alzheimer’s in 2012 she said it has made her realise ‘you have to make use of every single moment while you have a functioning brain. Don’t waste a minute. It’s time for me to focus on other things now.’
However, she has no plans to retire altogether as she will be concentrating on her work as an author, raising awareness of dementia, and will continue to work as a freelance television presenter and journalist.
Ms Magnusson, who also has young grandchildren to keep her occupied, presented the BBC documentary Alzheimer’s, A Cure and Me last year, and her work with Playlist for Life, the charity she founded to use music to help people with dementia, earned her an MBE in 2023.
