Former Weakest Link host, Anne Robinson, has opened up on the heartbreak that she faced when losing custody of her daughter due to battling alcoholism. The now 80-year-old was previously married to former Times editor Charles Wilson from 1968 to 1973 and the ex-couple shared a little girl, Emma, together. 

Writing in her 2001 autobiography Memoirs of an Unfit Mother, Anne detailed her dreadful custody battle - which she lost. Emma lived with her father until her teenage years, as the TV presenter spiralled into alcoholism. She told the Telegraph: “It cost me terrible shame. Appalling shame, much more than anything else. But you learn from your failures, not your success.”

She added: “I learnt to stop drinking. I think that’s enough, don’t you?” Explaining why she chose to write about her heartbreaking experiences, Anne continued: "It was quite cathartic. But I also thought it was a good story.”

Anne met her ex-husband while they were both working as journalists at the Mail, in the late 1960s. They married in 1968 but, at that time, the paper wouldn’t permit married couples to work together and insisted she had to leave so she went to work for The Sunday Times.

However, Anne's drinking started to become a problem within their relationship. In 1973, when Emma was two, Wilson sued for custody. While the fiery-tongued TV host was painted as an irresponsible drunk in court, it was the fact that she refused to be a stay at home mother that led to Wilson winning the custody battle. For years, Anne only saw Emma only at weekends. 

Now Emma is 54, and the mum and daughter have managed to build a stronger relationship. She is now a former radio DJ who is married herself, with two teenage boys.

Anne told the Telegraph: “Who knows how it [Emma's childhood] affected her? I also think having two well known parents cast quite a dark shadow. But she is happy, very happy.”

Over the years, the TV star has amassed a sizeable fortune, but she is believed to have "given it away" to her daughter and grand-children, according to The Daily Mail.

Anne reportedly told Saga Magazine: "I've given it all away. I don't want the taxman to have it. I've spread it about quite a lot, to the children. They may as well enjoy it now."