By Robin Cottle

Copyright walesonline

Former The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson , who celebrates her 81st birthday today (Friday, September 26), has frequently opened up about her health struggles. She has discussed her battle with alcoholism during her younger years through to confronting skin cancer whilst presenting the beloved BBC quiz programme. The television personality has certainly led an eventful life. She has married and divorced on two occasions – initially to journalist Charles Wilson and subsequently to fellow journalist John Penrose. Anne is currently in a relationship with Queen Camilla’s former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. She was employed by several national publications, including the Daily Mail, Sunday Times and Daily Mirror, but it was before the cameras where she truly flourished. Alongside The Weakest Link, Anne also fronted Points of View and Countdown to establish her position as a recognisable figure on British television, though her journey has not been without its challenges, reports the Express . According to the broadcaster, her alcoholism deteriorated to such an extent that at one point she maintained she “only had six weeks to live”. By her mid-30s (she stopped drinking permanently in December 1978 at the age of 34 and subsequently joined Alcoholics Anonymous) she believes she was near death. Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: “By my mid-30s, I got to the point where I probably had about six weeks to live. “I suffered from a really bad drink problem and my weight dropped down to about six stone. I woke up one day and realised I had a stark choice: did I want to live or die? I was seriously abusing my body.” She said at the time: “Luckily, I came to my sense just in time. That was almost 40 years ago and I haven’t had a drop since.” Anne revealed that a heartbreaking moment involving her daughter Emma was the turning point that made her quit drinking permanently. She had collected her from school and driven to a petrol station to purchase a bottle of vodka, but witnessing her daughter’s tears as she consumed it prompted her to seek help from Alcoholics Anonymous. She was unsuccessful in a custody dispute for Emma, then aged two, in 1973, when her former husband Charles Wilson was awarded full custody, care and control of their child. Anne faced a major health crisis during the peak of her The Weakest Link success when a doctor discovered a mole on her back “by chance”. The growth, found in 2001, proved to be skin cancer, though she managed to receive treatment before it became life-threatening. Ten years following her cancer ordeal, Anne discussed the experience in an interview with The Daily Mirror. She said: “I’m so glad to be standing here now. I didn’t even know I had cancer. It was by chance that a doctor in Los Angeles spotted a mole on my back.” Removing the mole left a permanent mark on her skin, but the presenter explained: “It (the mole) had to be dug into twice before they got it out. I have a rather large scar on my back but it’s a small price to pay. “I was part of the generation that took sunbeds and didn’t worry. It’s only recently that people have known of the dangers.” Anne has confessed that she often contemplates her own mortality, regularly reading obituaries in newspapers to compare her age with those who have passed away. She said: “And I look at the obituaries saying: ‘Oh, golly, they went at 70, they went at 72.’ But then the other day there was a woman who died at 116. “So, what I do is I try to keep fit, and live in the day and be grateful for wonderful grandsons, my daughter and my son in law, although he supports Everton, but you can’t have everything… And I love clothes. I keep buying clothes, I don’t think, ‘Oh, well, I won’t need any soon.'” The presenter has also been open about her decision to get a facelift in 2004 – a topic that still sparks curiosity among people even two decades later. Speaking to The Oldie Magazine, the presenter revealed that ‘for ages’ strangers would approach her to inquire about the surgeon behind the £9,000 procedure. She said: “For ages afterwards, men would come up to me and have a serious conversation and then at the end say: ‘My wife wanted to know if I could ask you where you got your facelift.'” Anne previously expressed regret over not waiting longer before unveiling her new face on TV. She told Angela Scanlon’s Ask Me Anything: “When you have cosmetic surgery it is a bit like taking a leg of lamb out of the oven. You have to let it rest for a bit. “I went on television quite quickly afterwards and it was a famous headline which said, ‘This face is the Weakest Link’ as it was quite blown up.”