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List of Blue Peter presenters facts for kids

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Blue Peter is a British children's television programme created by John Hunter Blair. The first programme was broadcast on 16 October 1958. It is the longest-running children's television programme in the world, and also one of the longest-running television programmes in the world.

Blue Peter currently airs weekly on Fridays in the United Kingdom on CBBC, a digital television channel. The show is produced in a magazine format, often transmitting live, and features a combination of studio presentation, interviews and outside broadcasting items. There have been forty-three official presenters of Blue Peter.

History

Konniehuq
Konnie Huq, the 26th presenter, was the longest-serving female presenter, from 1997 to 2008

The first presenters of Blue Peter were Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. Trace presented for nearly nine years, and Williams for just over three years (although no footage of her has been retained by the BBC). In the early days, as the show ran continuously on a weekly basis, other presenters occasionally stepped in to give the regular team a break. Artist Tony Hart and actress Ann Taylor both presented the show either in place of either Trace or Williams, or sometimes in place of both, with Taylor replacing Williams for six weeks in 1959 and presenting the show at least once alone, as did Hart.

When Williams was dismissed from the show in 1962 following a series of spats with a newly appointed producer, Trace continued to present the show alone or with one-off presenters until a replacement was found. The role went to Anita West, who presented sixteen editions over a four-month period in 1962—the shortest tenure of any full-time presenter—before abruptly resigning due to her imminent divorce, something she had not revealed to the producers. Her tenure was so short that no footage from her time on Blue Peter exists in the BBC Archives, although footage of her audition remains, along with that of Valerie Singleton and other auditioners. It was not until 1998 that West was officially recognised as a former presenter.

John Noakes was the longest-serving presenter, having presented the show for over twelve years, and Konnie Huq is the longest-serving female presenter, with a tenure of over ten years, beating Valerie Singleton by three months. However, although Singleton left the series full-time in 1972 to present the spin-off series Blue Peter Special Assignment, she continued to be an occasional presenter until 1975. Singleton's last 'official' appearance on the show came on 20 October 1975 although she was also credited with appearing on the 1975 'review of the year' programme, broadcast on 29 December 1975.

Singleton made the first of her many returns to the programme in January 1976 following the death of the first Blue Peter cat, Jason. She also returned to Blue Peter on 16 October 1978 to co-present the live UK TV balloon release for the 20th anniversary. Singleton presented her last Special Assignment in May 1981, and returned to co-present Blue Peter to moderate the live UK TV link-up to launch the 25th Silver Anniversary balloon hunt on 17 October 1983; these additions make her total presenting span 21 years. Sandra Michaels presented the show twice in April 1964 in the absence of Singleton, and impressed producer Edward Barnes enough that he considered her as a replacement for Singleton; however, Michaels turned this down and he opted to carry on with Singleton, something he admitted in hindsight he was glad he did. The youngest presenter of Blue Peter was Yvette Fielding, who was eighteen when she began presenting, and the oldest was John Noakes, who was forty-four when he left. Only one presenter, Peter Duncan, had two stints of presenting, his first being from 1980 to 1984, and his second being from 1985 to 1986.

The only presenter to have been fired from Blue Peter mid-contract is Richard Bacon, who was dismissed from the show in 1998. Many of the show's former presenters have continued to work in the media. Indeed, Bacon's career survived his dismissal; he has since presented The Big Breakfast and Top of the Pops among numerous other radio and television shows, some of which were for the BBC.

After its move to Salford in September 2011, Blue Peter had a format with two permanent presenters, Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood, supplemented by guest presenters for particular topics, such as Naomi Wilkinson for wildlife.

On 4 March 2013, the BBC announced that it was searching for a new presenter to start in the summer of 2013. They announced that CBBC stars Dick and Dom would be hosting a new TV show to find the next presenter. The show began on 24 June as Blue Peter - You Decide! The judges were Myleene Klass, Eamonn Holmes and Cel Spellman. The winner was chosen after five weeks of competition, via a public vote. On 25 July 2013, it was announced that 22-year-old Lindsey Russell had won the public vote to become Blue Peter's 36th presenter.

On 8 August 2013, Skelton announced on air that she was leaving the show in September after five years, to be replaced by Radzi Chinyanganya.

Harwood left the programme on 14 September 2017. Chinyanganya left after five-and-a-half years on 18 April 2019. On 26 April, Chinyanganya's replacement was announced as Richie Driss. It was announced on 13 May 2020 that Mwaksy Mudenda would join Russell and Driss, returning the show to a three-presenter format. On 1 September 2020, Adam Beales was announced as the show's 40th presenter.

On 24 June 2021, Russell announced she would be leaving the programme, with her last appearance on 15 July 2021. On 17 June 2022, Beales announced that he would be leaving, with his last appearance to be aired on 15 July 2022. Joel Mawhinney became the 41st presenter on 11 November 2022, following a recent stint of guest presenting during the summer.

On 3 February 2023, Driss announced that after 4 years he would leave the show, with his last show to be aired on 3 March. His replacement, Abby Cook, became the 42nd presenter on the following episode, aired on 10 March 2023. Mudenda departed in September 2023; she was replaced four months later by Shini Muthukrishnan.

Presenters

Richard Bacon
Richard Bacon, the 25th presenter from 1997 to 1998, is the only presenter to have his contract terminated mid-run
No. Presenter Tenure began Tenure ended Length Ref(s)
1 Trace, ChristopherChristopher Trace 16 October 1958 24 July 1967 8 years, 281 days
2 Williams, LeilaLeila Williams 16 October 1958 8 January 1962 3 years, 84 days
* Taylor, AnnAnn Taylor 17 September 1959 11 December 1959 N/A
* Hart, TonyTony Hart 13 November 1959 20 November 1959 N/A
3 West, AnitaAnita West 7 May 1962 3 September 1962 119 days
4 Singleton, ValerieValerie Singleton 3 September 1962 3 July 1972 9 years, 304 days
* Michaels, SandraSandra Michaels 20 April 1964 27 April 1964 N/A
5 Noakes, JohnJohn Noakes 30 December 1965 26 June 1978 12 years, 178 days
6 Purves, PeterPeter Purves 16 November 1967 23 March 1978 10 years, 127 days
7 Judd, LesleyLesley Judd 5 May 1972 12 April 1979 6 years, 342 days
8 Groom, SimonSimon Groom 15 May 1978 23 June 1986 8 years, 39 days
9 Wenner, ChristopherChristopher Wenner 14 September 1978 23 June 1980 1 year, 283 days
10 Heath, TinaTina Heath 5 April 1979 23 June 1980 1 year, 79 days
11 Greene, SarahSarah Greene 19 May 1980 27 June 1983 3 years, 39 days
12 Duncan, PeterPeter Duncan 11 September 1980 18 June 1984 3 years, 281 days
13 Ellis, JanetJanet Ellis 28 April 1983 29 June 1987 4 years, 62 days
14 Sundin, MichaelMichael Sundin 13 September 1984 24 June 1985 284 days
* Duncan, PeterPeter Duncan 9 September 1985 27 November 1986 1 year, 79 days
15 Curry, MarkMark Curry 23 June 1986 26 June 1989 3 years, 3 days
16 Keating, CaronCaron Keating 13 November 1986 22 January 1990 3 years, 70 days
17 Fielding, YvetteYvette Fielding 29 June 1987 29 June 1992 5 years, 0 days
18 Leslie, JohnJohn Leslie 20 April 1989 20 January 1994 4 years, 275 days
19 Jordan, Diane-LouiseDiane-Louise Jordan 25 January 1990 26 February 1996 6 years, 32 days
20 Turner, AntheaAnthea Turner 14 September 1992 27 June 1994 1 year, 286 days
21 Vincent, TimTim Vincent 16 December 1993 24 January 1997 3 years, 39 days
22 Miles, StuartStuart Miles 27 June 1994 21 June 1999 4 years, 359 days
23 Hill, KatyKaty Hill 23 June 1995 19 June 2000 4 years, 362 days
24 D'Annunzio, RomanaRomana D'Annunzio 1 March 1996 20 February 1998 1 year, 356 days
25 Bacon, RichardRichard Bacon 21 February 1997 16 October 1998 1 year, 237 days
26 Huq, KonnieKonnie Huq 1 December 1997 23 January 2008 10 years, 53 days
27 Thomas, SimonSimon Thomas 8 January 1999 25 April 2005 6 years, 107 days
28 Baker, MattMatt Baker 25 June 1999 26 June 2006 7 years, 1 day
29 Barker, LizLiz Barker 23 June 2000 10 April 2006 5 years, 291 days
30 Salmon, ZoeZoe Salmon 23 December 2004 25 June 2008 3 years, 185 days
31 Jones, GethinGethin Jones 26 April 2005 25 June 2008 3 years, 60 days
32 Akinwolere, AyoAyo Akinwolere 18 September 2006 28 June 2011 5 years, 0 days
33 Skelton, HelenHelen Skelton 23 September 2008 26 September 2013 5 years, 3 days
34 Defries, JoelJoel Defries 23 September 2008 14 December 2010 2 years, 82 days
35 Harwood, BarneyBarney Harwood 17 January 2011 14 September 2017 6 years, 240 days
36 Russell, LindseyLindsey Russell 5 September 2013 15 July 2021 7 years, 313 days
37 Chinyanganya, RadziRadzi Chinyanganya 17 October 2013 18 April 2019 5 years, 183 days
38 Driss, RichieRichie Driss 16 May 2019 3 March 2023 3 years, 291 days
39 Mudenda, MwaksyMwaksy Mudenda 14 May 2020 29 September 2023 3 years, 138 days
40 Beales, AdamAdam Beales 3 September 2020 15 July 2022 1 year, 315 days
41 Mawhinney, JoelJoel Mawhinneydouble-dagger 11 November 2022 Present 2 years, 10 days
42 Cook, AbbyAbby Cookdouble-dagger 10 March 2023 Present 1 year, 256 days
43 Muthukrishnan, ShiniShini Muthukrishnandouble-dagger 19 January 2024 Present 311 days
 double-dagger : Current Blue Peter presenters

Timeline of presenters

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