Onatejiro "AJ" Odudu (born 12 February 1988) is a British television presenter from

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, UK. She is best known for co-presenting the 2013 Channel 5 reality show spin-off ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sho ...

'', alongside

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

and

Rylan Clark Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), known professionally as Rylan, is an English broadcaster and model. He finished in fifth place on the ninth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2012, and the following year, he won the eleventh series of ...

and the 2021

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

reality show spin off '' Married at First Sight: Afters''.

Early life and education

Odudu was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Her mother, Florence, and father, James, are

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

and she is one of eight children (five boys and three girls). Her parents had an arranged marriage, for which her mother immigrated to England from Nigeria in the 1970s. Her father worked as a bus conductor, and her mother worked as a seamstress, cleaner, and dinner lady at a private school. Odudu attended St Bede's RC High School and St Mary's College in Blackburn. She later graduated with a degree in English and Politics from

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

Career

Odudu began her career as a reporter for

BBC Blast BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

based at

Radio Lancashire BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Darwen Street in Blackburn. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly a ...

. Her first presenting roles began in 2009 on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

series ''The Almost Perfect Guide to Life'' and on '' The 5:19 Show'', an online show on the

BBC website BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

, having previously served as the latter's 'raving reporter'. In 2010, she was a guest on ''100 Greatest Toys'', a one-off special broadcast on

. She starred as herself in ''

Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998. Several pilots first shown on ''Comedy Lab'' have gone on to spawn full serie ...

'' in 2011 and co-presented

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

' coverage of the

Isle of Wight Festival 2012 The Isle of Wight Festival 2012 was the eleventh revived Isle of Wight Festival, held at Seaclose Park in Newport on the Isle of Wight. The event ran from 21 to 24 June 2012. The 2012 event was the second under a ten-year deal between the Isle ...

. In June 2013, Odudu began presenting ''

'' with

Rylan Clark-Neal Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), known professionally as Rylan, is an English broadcaster and model. He finished in fifth place on the ninth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2012, and the following year, he won the eleventh series of ...

and

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

, and then ''Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Psych'' from August 2013. Her departure from the show was confirmed in November 2013, being replaced by ''

Celebrity Big Brother 12 ''Celebrity Big Brother 12'' was the twelfth series of the British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother''. It launched on 22 August 2013, three days after the fourteenth regular series final, in two parts. The series ended after 23 ...

'' contestant and former ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...

'' panellist,

Carol McGiffin Carol Deirdre McGiffin (born 18 February 1960) is an English radio and television broadcaster, who has appeared on the daytime talk show ''Loose Women'' since the early 2000s. She appeared on the twelfth series of '' Celebrity Big Brother''. ...

. In August 2013, Odudu launched her own blog on ''

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

'' magazine's UK website. From 2015 to 2019, Odudu hosted the

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. It ...

programme, ''Trending Live!'', with

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

and

Vick Hope Victoria Nwayawu Nwosu-Hope (born 25 September 1989) is a British TV and radio presenter, journalist and published author. Vick hosts three shows a week across BBC Radio 1 "Going Home with Vick and Jordan", "Life Hacks" and "Official Chart: F ...

. She regularly presented the online Facebook quiz game "Confetti" in March and April 2019. In July 2021, she won the second series of ''Celebrity Karaoke Club'' on

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

. Also in that month, Odudu was confirmed as co-host of a one-off revival episode of ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The pro ...

'', presenting alongside the already-announced

Mo Gilligan Mosiah Bikila Gilligan (born 19 February 1988) is a British stand-up comedian. He is known for his observational comedy. After several years of uploading comedy clips to social media, he found global success in 2017. He hosted '' The Lateish Sho ...

, for

in September 2021. In March 2022, she co-hosted ''The Great Comic Relief Prizeathon'' alongside

Vernon Kay Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including ''All Star Family Fortunes'' (2 ...

. Odudu presented the UK jury points in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

. In June 2022 she was a presenter for the BBC's coverage of the

Platinum Jubilee Pageant The Platinum Jubilee Pageant was held on Sunday, 5 June 2022 near Buckingham Palace, as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Conceived and directed by David Zolkwer with Pageant Master, Adrian Evans, it featured over 10,0 ...

. On 10 January 2023, it was announced that Odudu would co-host the official handover and semi final allocation draw for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

that will be broadcast live on BBC Two.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

From September 2021, she was a competitor on the nineteenth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', partnered with professional dancer

Kai Widdrington Kai Widdrington (born 23 August 1995) is an English dancer and choreographer. In 2010, he was the Junior World Latin American champion. In 2012, he reached the final of the sixth series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. Between 2017 and 2020, he was ...

. They topped the leaderboard in their first week with a score of 34, and again in week 7, when they scored 39 for their Charleston to "

Don't Bring Lulu "Don't Bring Lulu" is a 1925 Dixieland jazz song. Background ''Don't Bring Lulu'' was first published by Jerome H. Remick, based in Detroit and New York City, United States, in 1925. It is the 63rd most covered song from 1925. "Lulu" in the son ...

". The couple also jointly topped the leaderboard in the semi-final, but were forced to withdraw from the competition on 17 December, the day before the final, after Odudu tore a ligament in her right ankle.

Personal life

Odudu lives in South East London. She is a qualified personal trainer and sports nutritionist, and runs in her spare time.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odudu, Aj 1988 births Alumni of Keele University BBC television presenters English bloggers English television presenters English people of Nigerian descent Living people People from Blackburn Black British television personalities British women bloggers