Young denies 'Crimewatch' ageism

New Crimewatch presenter Kirsty Young has hit back at accusations that the show is "dumbing down".

The 39-year-old denied claims that the BBC was guilty of ageism when it axed host Nick Ross, 60, and moved 43-year-old Fiona Bruce to the Antiques Roadshow.

Ross branded producers at the time as "patronising in the extreme" to assume that viewers only wanted to watch programmes presented by young people.

However, Young dismissed the claims as "nonsense" while posing in stockings and stilettos for a photoshoot for Good Housekeeping magazine.

She said: "If I was 22 and some leggy, pouty bird, then I could see it, but they're stretching it a bit thin. Fiona and I are of the same generation."

She also insisted that she would not suffer sleepless nights while fronting the show, despite the murder of former host Jill Dando, saying: "I don't have a nervous disposition. People's fear is disproportionate to the likelihood of them being involved in a violent crime.

"A boy being shot riding his bicycle occupies the news for weeks because it's so unusual. Madeleine McCann going missing preoccupies us all because it almost never happens that a girl is taken from her bed."

Young makes her debut as presenter of Crimewatch later this month.