List of Blue Peter presenters


Blue Peter is a British children's television programme created by John Hunter Blair. The first programme was broadcast on 16 October 1958, and the series still airs as of 2020. 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 Thursdays in the United Kingdom on CBBC, a digital television channel. Blue Peter is produced in a magazine format, often transmitting live, and features a combination of studio presentation, interviews and outside broadcasting items. There have been thirty-nine official presenters of Blue Peter.

History

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. 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 fired 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, a reason she hid from 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 auditionees. It was not until 1998 that West was officially recognised as a former presenter.
John Noakes is 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 She returned to Blue Peter 16 October 1978 to co-present the live UK TV balloon release for the 20th Anniversary. Singleton presented her last 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; making 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 replacing Singleton, but Michaels turned him down and he opted to carry on with Singleton, something he admits 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 after it emerged that he had taken cocaine. A number of other presenters have garnered negative publicity for aspects of their private lives, which has been described in some sections of the British media as the "curse of Blue Peter". Nevertheless, 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.

Transition to multiple presenters

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 they were 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.
Since Harwood left the programme and CBBC on 14 September 2017 there have been two presenters. 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.

Presenters

No.PresenterTenure beganTenure endedLengthRef
16 October 195824 July 1967
16 October 19588 January 1962
17 September 195911 December 1959
13 November 195920 November 1959
7 May 19623 September 1962
3 September 19623 July 1972
20 April 196427 April 1964
30 December 196526 June 1978
16 November 196723 March 1978
5 May 197212 April 1979
15 May 197823 June 1986
14 September 197823 June 1980
105 April 197923 June 1980
1119 May 198027 June 1983
1211 September 198018 June 1984
1328 April 198329 June 1987
1413 September 198424 June 1985
9 September 198527 November 1986
1523 June 198626 June 1989
1613 November 198622 January 1990
1729 June 198729 June 1992
1820 April 198920 January 1994
1925 January 199026 February 1996
2014 September 199227 June 1994
2116 December 199324 January 1997
2227 June 199421 June 1999
2323 June 199519 June 2000
241 March 199620 February 1998
2521 February 199716 October 1998
261 December 199723 January 2008
278 January 199925 April 2005
2825 June 199926 June 2006
2923 June 200010 April 2006
3023 December 200425 June 2008
3126 April 200525 June 2008
3228 June 200628 June 2011
3323 September 200826 September 2013
3423 September 200814 December 2010
3517 January 201114 September 2017
3605 September 2013Present
3717 October 201318 April 2019
3816 May 2019Present
3914 May 2020Present

: Current Blue Peter presenter

Timeline of Presenters