Anna Richardson defiantly refuses to label her sexuality: ‘I just happened to fall in love with a woman’
Anna Richardson during the Women in Film and TV Awards 2019. (Joe Maher/Getty)
TV presenter Anna Richardson rejects labels for her sexuality, and said she “just happened to fall in love” with Sue Perkins.
It has often been reported that Richardson is bisexual. The Naked Attraction presenter ended her 18-year relationship with British TV producer Charles Martin in 2014, and she and Perkins have been together for six years.
But, speaking to The Guardian, Richardson clarified: “I have never, ever called myself bisexual.”
She added that she rejects labels for her sexuality altogether and doesn’t care what people think, saying: “I don’t label myself as straight, lesbian, bisexual, bicurious, I’m just me, I just happened to fall in love with a woman.”
Richardson’s father was a Church of England canon who was given an OBE in May 2007 for services to the Church of England.
She said that labels aren’t relevant to her because the hardest conversations in which she had to explain her sexuality have already happened.
“My dad was a very senior member of the Church of England,” said Richardson. “It’s quite a big deal, to say to your family: ‘By the way, I’m now living with a woman.'”
Richardson has presented many shows relating to sex, gender and sexuality, including The Sex Education Show and Naked Attraction, but said she is still fascinated by the sexual openness of younger generations.
She said: “The idea that you would take a snap of your tits, and just show it to people; it’s so alien to our generation.”
Anna Richardson and Sue Perkins had an “extraordinary connection” when they met.
Anna Richardson and Sue Perkins first revealed that they were together in January, 2015, with Richardson saying they have an “extraordinary connection”.
She added: “We met at a party and I was recently single and we just… all I can say, there was an understanding between us and for me the planets aligned and I just thought, ‘This person’ – it’s not even about a woman – ‘this person is absolutely extraordinary’.”
