Sue Cook was once among the best-known faces on British television, but the former presenter says she doubts she would be hired for screen work today because she is a white, middle-class woman.
Cook became a familiar BBC presence during the 1980s and 1990s, hosting flagship programmes including Crimewatch, Children In Need, Breakfast Time and Nationwide.
Her profile was such that she even became the subject of a recurring gag in Steve Coogan’s comedy series I’m Alan Partridge.
Now 77 and working as a novelist, Cook said she feels “glad” her broadcasting career happened when it did, arguing that she might find it far harder to break through in the current television climate.
Appearing on The Peter Purves Podcast, she said: “I don’t think I’d be given a job now.
“I’m female, I’m well-spoken, you know, I’m white-skinned, middle-class. I’m all the things you shouldn’t be.
“So I’m sure I’d never get a job now. But women were quite a rare thing on television [at that time], so I was lucky.”
Cook also said she considered herself “very lucky” to have worked in broadcasting before social media became a dominant force in the media world.
Sue Cook fronted major BBC series such as Crimewatch, Children In Need , Breakfast Time and Nationwide in the 1980s and 90s
Ms Cook was the original co-host, alongside Nick Ross, of Crimewatch from 1984 for 11 years
She said: ‘I think social media is so toxic.
‘I mean you can put something on Twitter (now X) saying what a lovely day it is, and you’ll get somebody saying what an idiot you are.
‘I’m so glad I was in the era I was.’
Ms Cook is probably best remembered as the original co-host, alongside Nick Ross, of Crimewatch from 1984 for 11 years.
She was succeeded by Jill Dando in 1995 until she was shot dead on the doorstep of her Fulham home on April 26 1999.
At the time of her death, she was among those with the highest profile of the BBC’s on-screen staff, and had been the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year.
Crimewatch reconstructed her murder in an attempt to aid the police in the search for her killer.
Two years after Ms Dando’s death, Barry George was found guilty of her murder and handed a life sentence.
However, his conviction was quashed in 2007, and he was cleared and released the following year, after serving eight years in prison.
Ms Dando’s murder remains one of Britain’s most high profile unsolved murders, and among the many theories is that she was killed due to the Crimewatch investigations she was involved in.
But Ms Cook disagrees, saying ‘I don’t think it was to do with Crimewatch’.
She said: ‘My feeling is that it was a showcase killing for somebody who wanted to be involved in a very big criminal gang, and had to prove he could do something really daring.
‘Jill was one of the most loved, most watched, most adored people on television, and also looked a bit like Princess Diana.
‘I think the person thought that would be a good person to show off his prowess, because the casing of the bullet had an identifying mark on it – why would you do that?
‘I may be completely wrong, but I’ve often thought that was a very strong possibility. But I don’t think it was Crimewatch.’
Ms Cook was succeeded on Crimewatch by Jill Dando in 1995 until she was shot dead on the doorstep of her Fulham home on April 26 1999
Asked if she herself felt frightened during her stint on Crimewatch, Ms Cook said: ‘No, I wasn’t frightened really.
‘We used to get the occasional poison pen letters, but not really so many.
‘I wondered often whether the producers were quietly putting them in the bin, threatening letters.
‘I didn’t feel frightened, although I had a neighbour who used to come and knock on my door and say “Must you do Crimewatch? I’m so concerned that somebody might be coming out to get you and they’ll come to my address instead of yours by mistake.”
‘But I wasn’t frightened really.
‘I did feel a bit threatened when we did a programme about the people we put away, and some of them were already coming out of jail, and I thought “I don’t think I like being very triumphal about putting people, particular individuals, in jail. That’s a bit risky”.’
During the show’s time, Crimewatch helped solve countless cases over the three decades it was on the air.
In 1993, viewers helped identify Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered James Bulger, after the programme showed CCTV footage of them with him.
Similarly, in 1997, an appeal on the killing of Lin and Megan Russell helped to catch murderer Michael Stone.
In 2014, the show celebrated 30 years of helping the police solve crimes, and producers revealed that one in three cases ended in arrest and one in five in convictions.
Over 4,000 cases featured on the programme, including hundreds of high profile murders.
