List of Blue Peter presenters facts for kids

Blue Peter is a super famous British TV show for kids! It was created by John Hunter Blair and first aired on October 16, 1958. Guess what? It's the longest-running children's TV show in the entire world! It's also one of the longest-running TV shows overall.

You can watch Blue Peter every Friday in the UK on CBBC, which is a digital TV channel. The show is like a magazine, with different segments. It's often shown live and includes studio chats, interviews, and cool reports from different places. So far, 43 amazing people have been official presenters on Blue Peter!

The Story of Blue Peter

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

The very first presenters of Blue Peter were Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. Christopher was on the show for almost nine years! Leila presented for just over three years. In the early days, other presenters sometimes filled in. This gave the regular team a break. Artist Tony Hart and actress Ann Taylor both helped out.

In 1962, Leila Williams left the show. Christopher Trace continued, sometimes with guest presenters. Then, Anita West joined. She presented for only four months in 1962. This was the shortest time for any full-time presenter! After her, Valerie Singleton became a presenter.

Longest and Shortest Presenters

John Noakes holds the record for the longest-serving presenter. He was on the show for over twelve years! Konnie Huq is the longest-serving female presenter. She worked for over ten years, beating Valerie Singleton's record. Valerie Singleton did return to the show many times after leaving full-time. She even helped celebrate the 20th and 25th anniversaries!

The youngest presenter ever was Yvette Fielding. She was just eighteen when she started! The oldest was John Noakes, who was forty-four when he left. Only one presenter, Peter Duncan, had two separate times presenting the show.

Changes and New Presenters

Most presenters leave Blue Peter when their contract ends. But Richard Bacon was the only one whose contract was ended early in 1998. Even after that, he went on to present other big shows like The Big Breakfast and Top of the Pops.

In September 2011, Blue Peter moved to Salford. The show then usually had two main presenters. These were Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood. Sometimes, special guest presenters would join for certain topics. For example, Naomi Wilkinson helped with wildlife segments.

In 2013, the BBC looked for a new presenter. They even had a TV show called Blue Peter - You Decide! to find one! CBBC stars Dick and Dom hosted it. After five weeks of competition, the public voted. On July 25, 2013, 22-year-old Lindsey Russell won! She became the 36th Blue Peter presenter.

Later that year, Helen Skelton left the show. Radzi Chinyanganya took her place. Barney Harwood left in 2017. Radzi Chinyanganya left in 2019, and Richie Driss became the new presenter. In 2020, Mwaksy Mudenda joined, bringing the show back to having three presenters. Then, Adam Beales became the 40th presenter!

Lindsey Russell left in 2021, and Adam Beales left in 2022. Joel Mawhinney became the 41st presenter in November 2022. Richie Driss left in March 2023, and Abby Cook became the 42nd presenter. Mwaksy Mudenda left in September 2023. Four months later, Shini Muthukrishnan joined the team.

Meet the Presenters

Richard Bacon, the 25th presenter from 1997 to 1998, was the only presenter to have his contract ended early

Here is a list of all the amazing people who have presented Blue Peter over the years!

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 Mawhinney	11 November 2022	Present	2 years, 223 days
42	Cook, AbbyAbby Cook	10 March 2023	Present	2 years, 104 days
43	Muthukrishnan, ShiniShini Muthukrishnan	19 January 2024	Present	1 year, 158 days

  : Current Blue Peter presenters

Presenter Timeline

This timeline shows when each presenter was on Blue Peter. You can see how long each person stayed and how the presenters changed over the years!