Ore Oduba facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ore Oduba
Oduba in 2018
Born	(1985-11-17) 17 November 1985 (age 39) London, England
Occupation	Presenter
Notable credit(s)	Newsround BBC Sport Claimed and Shamed Match of the Day Kickabout The One Show The National Lottery Draws Strictly Come Dancing And They're Off! Hardball Noughts + Crosses
Spouse(s)	Portia Jett Culmer ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	2

Ore Oduba (born 17 November 1985) is a British television and radio presenter. He has also worked as an actor. From 2008 to 2013, he presented the CBBC news show Newsround.

In 2018, he hosted the game show And They're Off! to help raise money for Sport Relief. In 2019, he started his musical theatre career. He starred in the UK tour of Grease. He also appeared with Jason Manford in Curtains the Musical. Oduba made his first appearance in London's West End in January 2020. However, he is most famous for winning the 14th series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.

Early Life and Education

Ore Oduba was born on 17 November 1985 in London. His parents are from Nigeria. He grew up in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, in southwest England. He lived there with his brother and two sisters.

He often traveled between the UK and Nigeria. His father is a well-known lawyer in Nigeria. Ore went to Dumpton School and then Canford School. Canford School is a private school for both boys and girls in Canford Magna, near Wimborne Minster.

Oduba was a very good sports player when he was young. He played rugby, hockey, tennis, and cricket. He studied Sports Science and Social Science at Loughborough University. He graduated in 2008.

Ore Oduba's Career Journey

Ore Oduba always wanted to work in sports broadcasting. He started his career by joining The Network. This was a scheme at an Edinburgh television festival.

Starting at Newsround

Oduba joined Newsround in August 2008. He became a reporter and presented breakfast news updates. In 2009, he was promoted to deputy presenter. He filled in for the main presenter, Sonali Shah.

In 2010, he started presenting the main Newsround show with Sonali Shah. This continued until Shah left in November 2011. He was later joined by reporters Leah Gooding and Hayley Cutts. As part of his job, he also presented the spin-off show Sportsround. He became the main presenter of Sportsround in October 2008. The show was canceled in 2010. It was replaced by Match of the Day Kickabout, which Oduba also presented. Oduba left Newsround in 2013.

Sports and Other TV Shows

Oduba used to present sports news for BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 5 Live. He also presented and reported on British Olympic Dreams. He worked with his former Newsround co-presenter Sonali Shah. Oduba started presenting alone for the morning slot of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. This was shown on BBC One and BBC Sport.

Oduba often appeared on CBBC studio shows. He was a guest on shows like Sam & Mark's TMi Friday and Hacker Time. He also appeared on All Over the Place.

Before the 2012 Summer Olympics, Oduba presented a show called Ultimate Sports Day for CBBC. He also co-presents live cinema broadcasts. These are from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. He works with former ballerina Darcey Bussell.

On 2 March 2013, Oduba and Sonali Shah danced on the BBC's Let's Dance for Comic Relief. They danced to "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. They were eliminated and did not reach the final.

He played the character of Nathan in Hacker Time on CBBC. Since 2015, he has been a guest presenter for many episodes of The One Show.

From 2015 to 2016, he presented The National Lottery Draws on Saturday evenings. He also presented the 2015 New Year Live program on BBC One.

Challenges and Strictly Come Dancing

On 7 March 2016, Oduba took part in a challenge for Sport Relief. It was called "Hell on High Seas". He sailed 1,000 miles from Belfast to London. He was with five other celebrities, including Alex Jones and Suzi Perry. In 2016, he also presented Sport Relief: Clash of the Titans with Dan Walker. He presented coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics on BBC Four in August 2016.

Between October 2012 and May 2017, he presented Claimed and Shamed. This was a BBC One show about insurance fraud. In November 2016, Oduba was a guest presenter on This Morning with Holly Willoughby on ITV. He returned to present with Willoughby in March 2017. He also presented with Davina McCall in February 2018.

In 2016, Oduba took part in the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with Joanne Clifton. Their American Smooth dance to "Singin' in the Rain" was highly praised. Patricia Ward, the widow of Gene Kelly, even praised it. In the fourth week, they scored 39 out of 40 points for their jive. They danced to "Runaway Baby" by Bruno Mars. In the final on 17 December, they scored the maximum 40 points for their jive. They were then announced as the winners.

Recent Work

In 2017, Oduba filled in for Claudia Winkleman and Steve Wright. He presented their shows on BBC Radio 2 several times.

In 2018, Oduba presented the Saturday night game show And They're Off! For Sport Relief on BBC One. He also co-hosted the main coverage of Sport Relief 2018 live on BBC One. That same year, he co-presented Britain's Favourite Walks: Top 100 with Julia Bradbury for ITV. Oduba also hosts the BBC One game show Hardball.

Oduba started his musical theatre career in 2019. He played Teen Angel in the UK tour of Grease. He shared the role with singer Peter Andre. After that, he starred as Aaron Fox in Kander and Ebb's Curtains. He performed alongside Jason Manford and Carley Stenson. The show later moved to London's Wyndham's Theatre. This is where Oduba made his West End debut.

In 2020, Oduba played Akintola, a news anchor, in the BBC One drama Noughts + Crosses. This show was based on the novels by author Malorie Blackman.

The next year, he was a contestant on Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. He made it to the final. In the same year, he joined the cast of the stage version of The Rocky Horror Show.

Personal Life and Awards

In November 2015, Oduba married TV researcher Portia Jett Culmer. They have two children.

In July 2017, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Loughborough University. In November of that year, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Bournemouth University. He is a big fan of Manchester United football club.

Oduba was the first winner of the Inspirational Public Figure Award. This was at the first Ethnicity Awards in 2018. Other famous people nominated included Meghan Markle and Alesha Dixon.

Credits

TV Shows

TV Guest Appearances

Radio Shows

Stage Performances

See also

In Spanish: Ore Oduba para niños