Anthea Turner has accused Anne Robinson of making her life “hell” by writing “spiteful” columns about her divorce in the 1990s. The former Blue Peter presenter spoke about the impact of tabloid coverage during an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
Turner's marriage and affair
Turner married her manager, DJ Peter Powell, in 1990. The couple divorced eight years later after she left him for property developer Grant Bovey, who was married with three children at the time. The affair made Turner a regular target for tabloid journalists.
In the interview, Turner recalled: “The end of my first marriage and meeting Grant caused an eruption. I was television’s golden girl, then I had an affair and was vilified.” She added that she was portrayed as having “taken a happily married man by the scruff of his neck, dragged him out of his home and ruined everybody’s lives.”
Accusations against Robinson and Lee-Potter
Turner specifically named Anne Robinson, then a columnist for the Daily Express, and the late Lynda Lee-Potter, who wrote for the Daily Mail. She said: “Some very spiteful things were written. Anne Robinson and a journalist called Lynda Lee-Potter made my life hell, without, of course, knowing the full story.”
The Standard has contacted Robinson's representatives for comment. Lee-Potter died aged 69 in 2004 after suffering from a brain tumour. Robinson, now 81, began her career in tabloids in the late 1960s and also wrote for The Sun, The Times and The Telegraph.
Later life and second divorce
Turner and Bovey married in 1999 and separated in 2013 after Bovey had an affair with a much younger woman. Reflecting on the split, Turner said: “Grant had an affair and I gave him a second chance because I was thinking of the bigger picture – our girls, our home, finances and mutual friends. When we eventually split, my world fell apart but I’m glad that happened in my 50s, not my 60s. The younger you are during divorce, the greater chance you have of righting yourself again.”
Turner is now engaged to businessman Mark Armstrong, whom she described as “one of the biggest rewards” and her “gift from the universe”.
Last week, Robinson revealed she is relocating from the Cotswolds to central London due to health concerns.
