MDF queen Anne McKevitt is on the verge of signing a £25 million TV deal, making her the most highly paid female presenter, writes Kate Ginn

For a while, it seemed like Anne McKevitt was harldy off the television screen. Then a year ago, she all but disappeared and apart from a few bbok releases, the DIY show Home Front slipped out of the limelight.
It left many wondering whether McKevitt, originally from Thurso, who paved the way for programmes such as Changin Rooms, had lost her mantle as Queen of the MDF and with it, her television career.
Far from it. Now it has emerged that the one year break was, in fact, all part of McKevitt's masterplan to take on the United States of America.
The Gamble appears to have paid off. McKevitt, 33, is on the verge of signing a £25 million deal to take her shows across the Atlantic, eclipsing the £15 million Anne Robinson is being paid to present The Weakest Link in the States.
Red-haired McKevitt, already a multi-millionaire, is also in talks t osell her own brand products and for further books on style and design.
Her US deal alone will smash through the female presenter pay packet barrier, making her the most highly paid on television.
Flame-haired rival Robinson, the undisputed Queen of Mean who has been a huge hit in America, will seeher earnings dwarfed in comparison.
Although Robinson, 57, remains the highest paid female presenter on British TV with a new £6 million BBC contract, designed to stop her defecting to America full-time, her total salary cannot match McKevitt's riches.
Other high profile female media personalities in Britain will also be left far behind.
Fellow DIY presenter Carol Smillie picks up a meagre £1 million annual salary for shows such as Changing Rooms.
Meanwhile, Countdown's Carol Vorderman made £2,8 million last year, placing her equal 17th in a list of Britain's wealthiest women.
But even her golden handcuff deal tying her to the show until 2004 is only worth £5 million, spare change compared to the £300 million in merchandising deals that McKevitt's company could rake in over the next two years.
Cilla Black, LWT's own little gem, pockets around £1.7 million while Big Brother host Davina McCall earns nowhere near such hefty pay.
"I'm already wealthy but this new deal in America will take me on to a whole new level," admits McKevitt.
If she does conquer America, a notoriously fickle TV market, McKevitt will still have a long way to go to match the US's heavyweight media women.
She will be up against Martha Stewart, whose cookery and home improvement programmes have made her one of the richest women in America with a £1 billion fortune and an empire encompassing magazines and home shopping.
Chat show supremo Oprah Winfrey is also a self made billionairess, a shrewd businesswoman who combines presenting with managing her company, Harpo Productions.
McKevitt doesn't appear worried about a clash with Stewart, saying her shows will appeal to a younger generation.
"The potential is enourmous," she comments.
Like Stewart and Winfrey, McKevitt has grand plans that reacxh far beyond being a mere presenter. If she has her way, her home improvement products will soon be appeaaring in shopping malls and internet sites across America; everything from paints, bedding , mosaic tiles, and rugs.
"I see the TV programmes as a shop window for helping to sell my company's products," says McKevitt.
"I have studied the market for three years very closely and did lots of research before taking the plunge. I think it's very exciting."

Quite what America will make of McKevitt remains to be seen.
They are much more image concious in the Land of the Free, as demonstrated by Anne Robinson's heavy makeover for her American publicity shots.
McKevitt's distinctive style and voice endeared her to British viewers, while her designs border on the wacky. Past efforts include sticking blue fake fur to window frames and gluing rude seaside postcards to toilet seats.
Her rise to become the first style guru in Britain was unconventional. As a child she wanted to become an architect but at 16 McKevitt left home and headed to London to work as a junior to celebrity hairdresser - he was once married to Lulu - John Frieda.
A bad car crash when she was 20 left McKevitt confined to bed for 11 months. Afterwards, she began designing interiors for friends' homes and was soon inundated with requests.
Home Front and appearances on GMTV made her a household name.
Despite her wealth, she remains very down-to-earth and in touch with her Scottish roots.
Her mother still lives in the two bedroom council house where McKevitt grew up and they speak every night.
Married to Don, a former record industry executive, for 13 years (they have no children), she has driven the same car for the last four years.
If the American gamble pays off, McKevitt will soon be rich enough to buy her own car company.
"I'm a gambler by nature," she says.
"I realise you have only one go at life and have to grab it with both hands."