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[August 15, 2006]

It's time to move on - RTE's Anna

(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) TELEVISION presenter Anna Nolan is leaving The Afternoon Show on RT - after just two seasons on screen.

In a short statement yesterday the Big Brother star announced that she is not renewing her contract with the production company behind the show.

'I've really enjoyed the two seasons I spent presenting the show and particularly working with Blthnaid,' she said. 'However, I feel that the time is right to move on and try new things.' Nolan presented The Afternoon Show with Blthnaid NI Chofaigh and earlier this year RT assured viewers that the pair would be back in September after the summer holidays.


According to her spokesman, Anna is not in talks with another television company and simply wanted to try something different.

'The Afternoon Show is going on but not with Anna,' said the spokesman. 'She asked us to put a few lines out on her behalf but she is keeping her head down.

'She has no big announcements to make and has no ace up her sleeve. She just thought it would be nice to try something different and that it was time for a change. She had a brilliant two years on the Afternoon Show and she loved working with Blthnaid.

'Over the years she has been approached by other companies but she is definitely not in talks with anyone at the moment.' The magazine show focused on an array of topics such as cookery, fashion and makeovers.

It replaced the long running, and highly popular, Open House - which was taken off air in April 2004 despite a high-profile protest by fans of Marty Whelan and Mary Kennedy.

The style- conscious programme started out with three female presenters but Shena Keane left after the first series.

Flagged by RT as a programme 'laced with wit, fresh subject matter, topicality, frank discussion and just a few surprises' it drew criticism for its bland content and failed to attract as many viewers as its predecessor.

Despite Nolan's departure, RT said yesterday that the Afternoon Show remained part of its Autumn schedule, which will be launched in their studios in Dublin today.

Former newsreader Grinne Seoige is launching her afternoon show on the station in October but few details have been released by RT. It is expected that more details will be publicised today at the launch and that it will not be in direct competition with the Afternoon Show.

Nolan first appeared on television screens in the original series of Big Brother, where she raised eyebrows from the outset by revealing herself to be a gay, exnovice nun.

She finished first runner-up on the show and, after emerging from the Big Brother house, she turned down a e513,000 deal to write her autobiography.

She has since carved out a notable career as a television presenter, fronting Ask Anna, Drawing The Line and two series of Would You Believe for RT.

In Britain she presented Anna In Wonderland for the BBC, in which she travelled the world in pursuit of all things bizarre.

Copyright 2006 Daily Mail. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.

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