Anna Richardson: who is the presenter, is she dating Sue Perkins, why isn’t she in Changing Rooms season 2?

Anna Richardson is best known as the host of the controversial Channel 4 dating show Naked Attraction

Changing Rooms was a fan favourite DIY home improvement show that ran from 1996 and 2004 on the BBC - and in 2021, it enjoyed a revivial from Channel 4.

Stepping into the shoes of Carol Smillie, who presented the original run of the show from 1996 to 2003, Anna Richardson appeared alongside co-presenter and designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen as presenter - however, as Changing Rooms gears up to return for a second season, it will do so without Richardson.

Here’s everything you need to know about Anna Richardson.

Who is Anna Richardson?

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Richardson is a producer, presenter and journalist with over 20 years of experience within the field of British broadcasting.

She started out her career as a journalist on the Big Breakfast, Channel 4’s breakfast show.

From there, she went on to appear regularly in TV shows such as Love Bites, Love Bites Back, Dream Ticket, Des Res and Big Screen, where she interviewed a number of well known Hollywood celebrities.

Anna Richardson attends British LGBT Awards 2019 at Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on May 17, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)Anna Richardson attends British LGBT Awards 2019 at Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on May 17, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Anna Richardson attends British LGBT Awards 2019 at Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on May 17, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

She has also hosted shows like Secret Eaters, How Not to Get Old, Supershoppers, How to Retire at 40 and How to Save a Grand in 24 Hours.

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Richardson was a panellist on six episodes of ITV’s Loose Women in 2018, and in 2019 she presented the Channel 4 documentary Thomas Cook: The Rise and Fall of Britain’s Oldest Travel Agent, which explored the collapse of the Thomas Cook Group.

One of the programmes she is best known for presenting is the controversial Channel 4 dating show Naked Attraction, which first began in 2016.

As well as TV work, Richardson has also published two diet books - Mind Over Fatter and Summer Body Blitz Diet.

Are Anna Richardson and Sue Perkins still together?

Richardson and comedian and ex-Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins had been in a relationship since 2014, having reportedly met at a Halloween party in 2013.

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Anna told The Telegraph in 2015: “When I was invited to the party, I was told Sue would be going and I felt, what, a frisson? A spark of interest? And I thought: “Hmm, that’s interesting”. There was something in the air.

“It was an extraordinary night. I was dancing on the table. It felt like a defining moment in my life.”

Anna Richardson attends the launch party of Style for Stroke by Nick Ede at No 5 Cavendish Square on October 2, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)Anna Richardson attends the launch party of Style for Stroke by Nick Ede at No 5 Cavendish Square on October 2, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
Anna Richardson attends the launch party of Style for Stroke by Nick Ede at No 5 Cavendish Square on October 2, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Sue herself commented on the meeting between the two soon-to-be-partners, saying: “There was something sort of magical in the air, absolutely there was.”

Unfortunutely for the couple however, their relationship came to an end in June 2021, after seven years together.

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Speaking to The Mirror, Anna opened up about the difficult decision to spilt, saying: “No one can ever prepare you for it. Even when it happens a handful of times in your life, you never quite get used to it.

“I suppose I don’t know whether you become more resilient as you get older, but heartbreak definitely is still that mystery that needs to be solved, and how to get over it and become stronger.”

Sue Perkins attends the Sky Up Next 2020 at Tate Modern on February 12, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)Sue Perkins attends the Sky Up Next 2020 at Tate Modern on February 12, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
Sue Perkins attends the Sky Up Next 2020 at Tate Modern on February 12, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)

Prior to dating Perkins, Richardson had been in an 18 year relationship with TV producer Charles Martin.

In terms of her sexuality, Richardson told The Guardian in 2020: “I don’t label myself as straight, lesbian, bisexual, bicurious, I’m just me, I just happened to fall in love with a woman.”

Does Anna Richardson have tattoos?

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The topic of Richardson’s tattoos have cropped up last year, as she revealed her ink during the premiere episode of the rebooted Changing Rooms on Channel 4.

In the first episode of the reboot, Llewelyn-Bowen was announced that a theme for one of the rooms set to be redecorated was going to be “Forever Peacocky”.

This prompted Richardson to reveal a tattoo of a peacock feather on her lower back.

Why isn’t Anna Richardson presenting season 2 of Changing Rooms?

Channel 4 has confirmed that Richardson won’t be returning for another season of Changing Rooms, however, at this point, the presenter has not issued a statement to explain why.

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Changing Rooms will instead be fronted by designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, who appeared in the first season alongside Richardson. Also returning is Jordan Cluroe, Russell Whitehead and Tibby Singh.

The crew will be joined by two new interior designers Micaela Sharp and Whinnie Williams.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen attends the Shooting Star Ball in aid of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on November 12, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen attends the Shooting Star Ball in aid of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on November 12, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen attends the Shooting Star Ball in aid of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on November 12, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Talking about returning for another season, Llewelyn-Bowen said: “Like Arnie in The Terminator and Jack in The Shining, Changing Rooms is back smashing down the doors of the nation’s most ‘meh’ interiors to let the colour and excitement of full fat decorating in.”

He added: “Having loved every minute of last year’s revival that coincided with The Changing Rooms Silver Jubilee, I’ve got some spectacular, nay superhuman, transformations planned.

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“This season, the world’s most iconic home show returns to its ensemble roots with Whinnie Williams and Micaela Sharp adding their own particular design DNA to the established aesthetic gene pool of myself and Russell and Jordan, which will guarantee that, in every episode, viewers will be able to always expect the unexpected.

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