Nan Winton

Born Nancy Wigginton, Nan Winton was working as a continuity announcer when, in June 1960, she became the first woman to read the news on the BBC (ITV had a female newsreader, Barbara Mandell, from its launch date). However, audiences at the time thought a woman reading the news on state television was “too frivolous” and she was removed from the role just a year later. The BBC would not have a female newsreader again until Angela Rippon in 1975.

Outside of the news, Winton was a panellist on proto-Eggheads radio quiz show Triple Chance, and was at one point married to the bloke that played Ted Hope on Crossroads

Nan Winton
1925 – 11 May 2019
Died aged 93 (unique hit)