Valerie Singleton facts for kids

Valerie Singleton OBE (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter. She is best known for being a regular presenter on the popular children's TV show Blue Peter from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 PM program for ten years. Valerie also hosted many radio and TV shows about money and business, including BBC's The Money Programme from 1980 to 1988.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Valerie Singleton was born on April 9, 1937. Her father, Dennis Singleton, was a high-ranking officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and later worked in advertising. Her mother was Eileen Singleton.

Valerie loved dancing from a young age. She studied dancing at the Arts Educational Schools in London. When she was 12, she danced in a show called Cinderella. At 16, she danced in Aladdin in Edinburgh. She also sang as a young person in a group called the Ovaltineys.

Later, Valerie spent two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which is a famous acting school. She won a scholarship to help pay for her first term. She started her acting career at the New Theatre in Bromley. For several years, Valerie acted in plays and tours. In 1959, she starred in a BBC TV comedy show called The Adventures of Brigadier Wellington-Bull.

Valerie started presenting on BBC Radio in 1963. She hosted a show called On the Sunny Side of the Street. In 1964, she was also a reporter for BBC Two's Time Out. She became a popular voice for TV commercials and presented The Arnold Doodle Show on ITV with a cartoon character.

Working on Blue Peter

Valerie Singleton joined the BBC in 1961. She started as a TV announcer, introducing shows. On September 3, 1962, she joined Blue Peter, a very popular children's program. She was a regular presenter there until July 3, 1972.

In 1971, Valerie traveled with Princess Anne (who is now called the Princess Royal) to Kenya. This was for a film called Blue Peter Royal Safari. It was Princess Anne's first trip overseas as the new President of The Save The Children Fund. Years later, in 1998, Valerie and Princess Anne met again to talk about their safari for Blue Peter's 40th anniversary shows. At Christmas in 1971, Valerie and the Blue Peter team also hosted the yearly Disney Time on BBC1.

The Blue Peter Royal Safari film led to a spin-off series called Blue Peter Special Assignments. Valerie was the only presenter for this show. It was shown on weekends from 1973 to 1981. At first, each episode focused on capital cities in Europe. Later, it covered islands and the homes of famous historical people.

Valerie made her last regular appearance on Blue Peter in October 1975. She returned in January 1976 to mark the death of the first Blue Peter cat, Jason. She also came back for a final series of Special Assignment in 1981, reporting on the Yukon and Niagara Rivers.

Valerie continued to be involved with Blue Peter for many years. For the show's 20th and 25th anniversaries in 1978 and 1983, she helped with live broadcasts from around the UK. She launched anniversary badge balloon hunts. This meant she was involved with the show for 21 years! For the 30th anniversary, she presented an award to a young person. Many people say that Valerie Singleton never truly left Blue Peter.

While working on Blue Peter, Valerie also presented another BBC children's show called Val Meets The VIPs. This was a chat show that ran for three series in 1973 and 1974. In each episode, Valerie interviewed a famous person. A group of children in the audience could ask questions. One guest in March 1973 was Margaret Thatcher, who was then in charge of education.

Later Work in Television and Radio

Plaque commemorating Singleton's opening of Priory Country Park

After hosting a special program about changing measurements in July 1973, Valerie joined Nationwide in October 1973. She worked as a presenter for the show's "Consumer Unit," which helped people with shopping and money advice. She later became one of the main hosts of the show. Valerie was also a co-host for Nationwide's coverage of a royal wedding in November 1973.

She left Nationwide in 1978 to present the BBC's late-night news program Tonight. In 1980, she hosted BBC2's series A Kind of Childhood. She briefly returned to Nationwide in the summer of 1983. She presented a series of films about people who had to leave their home countries and settle in Britain.

Valerie hosted many other programs. She spent ten years on the BBC Radio 4 PM program, starting in 1982. Before that, she presented Midweek with Valerie Singleton on the same station. She also spent eight years presenting BBC2's The Money Programme from September 1980 to March 1988. This show helped people understand financial topics. She also helped report on election results for the BBC.

When she left PM in 1993, she presented a travel program for ITV. She also became a regular writer for several national newspapers and magazines, writing about travel. She made a special return to PM on February 29, 2016, to co-present a special 'Leap Day' program. In 1994, she received an award called the OBE for her great work in children's television.

In the 1990s, Valerie presented a popular quiz show on Channel 4 called Backdate. In the late 1990s, she hosted 12 episodes of Playback for the History Channel. This program asked well-known people about events that had influenced their lives. In 2019, she appeared in Can I Improve My Memory? for Channel 4. She was also an early supporter of the painter Jack Vettriano. In 2005, a story about Valerie moving from London to Dorset was in The Times newspaper.

In 2001, Valerie Singleton was the subject of This Is Your Life, a TV show where famous people are surprised and celebrated. Earlier, in 1974, she was a featured guest on the radio show Desert Island Discs.

Personal Life

Valerie Singleton has never married or had children. She has said in interviews that she had several partners over the years. She lives in Templecombe, Somerset.