A former contestant on the UK show The Weakest Link has published a new op-ed essay slamming host Anne Robinson for homophobia. The charges come at a sensitive time for Robinson, who just scored a new job hosting the gameshow Countdown for the UK’s Channel 4.
Benjamin Butterworth appeared on the UK version of the popular game show in 2010. The Weakest Link features contestants working together to build up a supply of cash during a round, then immediately vote to cut one of their competitors. All the while, host Robinson, a self-styled “Queen of Mean,” mocks the players and their shortcomings.
During his time on the show, Butterworth claims that Robinson mocked his homosexuality by asking inappropriate questions during banter between rounds.
“I was young, socially awkward, and in a hairdo that resembled a small dog. An obvious target for the sort of mockery that passed for TV in the noughties,” Butterworth writes for the UK site iNews. “I wanted to spar with Anne because, well, who wouldn’t? But I never anticipated how personal the show could be.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
For Butterworth, that sparring quickly crossed boundaries. “’Do you like girls, Benjamin?’ she asks among other small talk,” Butterworth recalls. “I fumble, surprised, confused. I am out as gay to my family, and researchers have probably asked that during the long phone chat they did before filming. But I never thought it would form part of a teatime quiz show.”
Related: Forget the Oscars: Neil Patrick Harris Is Going to Host This Infuriating Game Show
“The point of the scripted joke is clear: I’m gay, geeky and a virgin,” he adds. “And for the record, only two of those things were true.”
Butterworth goes on to recall his anxiety when the episode finally aired. Though he’d come out to his immediate family, he’d kept his sexuality hidden from extended family, including his grandmother. Lucky for him, the producers cut most of the banter before the broadcast. Others, however, weren’t so lucky. He goes on to cite several examples of Robinson mocking players for their sexuality or gender presentation.
To be clear, Butterworth doesn’t argue against Robinson landing her new job. He does, however, insist Channel 4 makes it clear that she is not allowed to mock contestants based on their sexuality.
“The defence of Robinson has always been that she was playing a character,” Butterworth concludes. “That it was all pantomime. But contestants like me, on the receiving end of those nasty and often snobby attacks, were not playing a character. Channel 4 will need to be clear that the Robinson’s new “chic” incarnation of Countdown will not play on the same cynical tropes that popularised her programme in 2000. If they don’t, it will be the end of Countdown that so many have enjoyed.”
Once described as “Harry Potter in drag” by style maven Mr. Blackwell, Anne Robinson has become an icon of British television. She also enjoyed brief popularity in the United States, hosting a prime time version of Weakest Link from 2001-2002. Throughout her career, her acerbic style has earned its share of detractors. In 2006, a report on homophobia at the BBC cited several examples of comments by Robinson to support claims that the channel was “endemically homophobic.” Robinson also attracted criticism in 2017 for attacking women alleging sexual harassment as part of the #MeToo movement for not reporting the incidents sooner.
Monkey1
So buddy agrees to go on a show where he knows they insult people and then is shocked when he’s insulted?
Cam
Right wing troll account will ALWAYS attack the LGBTQ people who are harasser, but will always defend Republican and right wing bigots who attack them.
Your troll game is flaccid and boring.
trsxyz
I feel that anyone wanting to maintain a modicum of privacy or dignity, should never agree to be on either a reality show, or a show like this where the host is supposed to mock the contestants.
Thad
Although I appeared on “Weakest Link” in 2002, I was on the US syndicated version hosted by George Gray. Yes, I was lightly insulted. No, it wasn’t homophobic. Yes, I got the last laugh and $24,500. And yes, I laughed hysterically when, years later, George became announcer on “The Price is Right” and had a little accident demonstrating a treadmill.
TheAbsoluteTRUTH
I went on a show where the host’s shtick is too mock and berate knowing that, years later because I’m a woke tool I’m butthurt and demand she stop..cry me a river
Cam
You litterally posted the exact same complaint a few levels up under your other screename “@Monkey1”
jjose712
Sorry but there’s a difference between being mocked (all host of the weakest link did that) and being mocked by your sexual orientation, or the way you look or things like that.
The spanish host was rude (she is a great actress) but never was that personal
Monkey1
He did say that the producers were asking very personal questions before he was picked for the show, so he did know what type of insults they’d throw at him. I think it’s an instance of regetting it after the fact.
iminheatlikeacat
At least Benjamin is consistent with his ridiculousness. Apparently, he didn’t realise what he was getting himself into, having appeared on the show in 2010, an entire decade after the show debuted to much fanfare. He also thinks it needs stating that Anne needs to be reminded not to carry her Weakest Link persona onto a different programme she will be presenting, quite forgetting (or not knowing) she has been presenting on TV since the 80’s, and a journalist for longer. Perhaps Ben didn’t realise. He does seem the type to not understand that things happened before he was actually born.
RyanMBecker
I have mixed feelings about this. While it’s true that contestants choose to be on the show, knowing full-well that they’ll be mocked, certain limits are also expected. For example, would the producers allow her to mock a contestant’s hijab or Star of David? A person’s sexual orientation might be comparable. That said, gender is, of course, good-naturedly mocked all the time. And being closeted adds a whole new twist. Food for thought…
RyanMBecker
First of all, I’m surprised that Queerty didn’t include a photo of 18yo Benji. He was kinda cute in that nerdy way, and definitely someone I might have befriended in high school or college. And yes, his hair resembled an unkempt poodle — more 80s than 90s, e.g. A Flock of Seagulls. But it made him even cuter, and more cuddle-able.
As for the topic, you guys should read the opinion piece. So a websearch on “Anne Robinson mocked my sexuality and sex life on Weakest Link, should she really host Countdown?”
James26
He came out to the producers but at no point did he say “I’m not out to my entire family and I do not want this discussed on air. or words to that effect. Then he says nothing for 20 years. And suddenly pops up to complain.
cuteguy
She looks like Sally Jesse Raphael
rickh710
I appeared on the American primetime version of The Weakest Link hosted by Anne Robinson on NBC in 2000. The contract that contestants signed in order to appear on the program was a stack of paper over an inch thick, and it enumerated REPEATEDLY that you were agreeing to be mocked, made fun of, taunted, and otherwise embarrassed in front of a television audience. Mr. Butterworth knew full well what he was getting into when he agreed to appear, and popping up 11 years later to complain about being teased on TV is ridiculous.
On my episode she implied that I needed to go on a diet, should I call the fat-shaming police? I stood up to her in the moment and we had a laugh, end of story. Well, not the end…I did go on to win the jackpot and smiled all the way to the bank.
Cam
I remember when her show got cancelled here in America she lashed out in a really childish way, trying to insult all Americans because apparently we didn’t have the intelligence to keep watching her one trick pony show.
Openminded
But then Jane Lynch took over the role doing exactly the same thing. But I guess since she is queer she does no wrong.