ANNE GREGG was best known as a bubbly and warm presenter of travel programmes, most notably BBC television’s Holiday, over which there was a minor sensation in 1991 when she was replaced by Anneka Rice, 20 years her junior.
As Gregg often explained, she had not been sacked, merely offered what she saw as a demotion to film reports, which she had refused. The programme had a new producer, with new ideas — although the decision to have a new presenter surprised Gregg. With her as presenter, Holiday had attracted 12 million viewers each week.
Accusations of ageism — Gregg was 51 — were levelled at the BBC. Its complaints department received 1,000 protests, and for a while Gregg was No 7 on the complaints register — “sandwiched between bad language and a programme about gays”, she joked. In the event, Rice lasted a year (to be replaced by Jill Dando). In later years Gregg reflected that, while it hurt at the time, being forced to look for new work was a blessing. She had been snapped up by ITV, where she fronted more holiday shows.
Off-screen, she was popular among a wide circle of friends, although she relished her privacy, and deflected questions on her single status. “I do have boyfriends,” she once conceded, “But I don’t believe that’s anyone’s business but my own.”
She was a strong-willed free spirit, working hard to guarantee the independence that she loved. She took pains to ensure her financial security: she also wrote for magazines and the press and was a partner in a small publishing company. And, aware of the demands of her work, she always took great care over her appearance.
Advertisement
Gregg had first dreamt of being an actress. She was born in Belfast, to a civil servant father and dressmaker mother, and hoped to follow in the footsteps of her uncle, R. H. McCandless, a successful actor. She made waves on the amateur dramatics scene but was discouraged from making it her career.
After Strathearn Grammar School for Girls, and a year as a bookkeeper in the civil service, she became a news reporter for Ulster Television, seeing it as a more sober way to work in the public eye.
At 19 Gregg was the youngest current affairs presenter in the UK, and four years later she moved to England and worked for Anglia TV, in Norwich, then as a continuity announcer, and then a national news reader, for the BBC in London.
In 1966 she took a break from television and began working for the National Magazine Company. She became features editor, then deputy editor of Good Housekeeping, remaining in the position until she was appointed editor of Woman’s Journal in 1978.
It was at this time that she met Ken Wright, who worked on Harper’s Bazaar. They were business partners for 30 years, running a company that published sponsored magazines. Among their many titles was the Traveller in France series, which Gregg edited, for the French Tourist Office in London.
Advertisement
In 1980 she was invited to present Holiday, after which she worked for ITV, presenting Annie Across America (1992) and Package Pilgrims (1993). She returned to the BBC for several Chelsea Flower Show specials, and was an occasional guest on programmes such as Call My Bluff. In her later years she devoted more time to radio, writing and publishing.
Three years ago, just before the cancer to which she eventually succumbed was diagnosed, she had begun writing a guide to the best markets in France. Tarragon & Truffles came out in April.
Her mother and brother survive her.
Advertisement
Anne Gregg, journalist, was born on February 11, 1940. She died on September 5, 2006, aged 66.