Clara Amfo (born 22 May 1984) is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Early life and education

Amfo was born in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

in London to Ghanaian parents. Her father, who died in 2015, was an

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

microbiologist, and her mother a hospital cleaner. After leaving high school, she went on to study media arts with professional and creative writing at St Mary's University College.

Career

Amfo started out as a marketing intern at

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

. During her time there she became a presenter, starting out on early breakfast, weekend breakfast and left doing the drive time show. In September 2013, Amfo joined

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

as host of the weekend breakfast show. In 2015, Amfo became the host of ''

The Official Chart ''The Official Chart'' is a long-running United Kingdom music chart programme, airing each Friday afternoon on BBC Radio 1. It airs the UK Singles Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company. In July 2015 ''The Official Chart'' moved from ...

'' on

. In February 2015 it was announced she would be leaving 1Xtra to take over from

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', a ...

as host of Radio 1's weekday mid-morning show – home of the ''

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

'' – on 25 May 2015. During her time in the slot she interviewed Jay-Z, Dua Lipa, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande. Amfo has hosted premieres for ''

No Time to Die ''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy film and the twenty-fifth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary Jo ...

'', '' Black Panther'',

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...

and ''

House of Gucci ''House of Gucci'' is a 2021 American biographical crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott, based on the 2001 book ''The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed'' by Sara Gay Forden. The film follows Patri ...

''. Since February 2017, Amfo presented backstage at the ''

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

'' for

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 ...

. In January 2020, Amfo launched her podcast 'This City' with famous Londoners exploring about their relationship with the capital, guest's included

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...

, Akala,

Jade Thirlwall Jade Amelia Thirlwall (born 26 December 1992) is an English singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence in the 2010s as a member of Little Mix, one of the world's best-selling girl groups. With Little Mix, she released six studio albums and achi ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

and

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. He rose to prominence as Eric Effiong on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Sex Education'' (2019–present), which earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Te ...

. In June 2020, Amfo was widely praised for making a speech on her mid-morning show on

, about George Floyd's

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, racism and its effect on her own mental health. On 20 April 2021, it was announced on

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...

' ''

Radio 1 Breakfast ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James since 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter. The show ran six days a week until February 1968 (seBBC Genome Project, then fi ...

'' show that Amfo would be taking over Annie Mac's ''Future Sounds'' show on Radio 1 from 30 July 2021, following Mac's announcement she would be leaving the station. It was also announced that

Rickie Rickie is a male or female given name. People * Rickie D. Moore, noted theologian within the Pentecostal movement * Rickie Fowler, American professional golfer * Rickie Harris, American football defensive back * Rickie Haywood Williams, radio DJ ...

Melvin Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may ...

and Charlie would take over Amfo's current ''Live Lounge'' show. In March 2021, Amfo was honoured with a Barbie 'Shero' doll. In July 2021, Amfo recorded an hour long interview special in L.A. with

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

for BBC One. Amfo was a contestant on the eighteenth 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 ...

''. She was partnered with Aljaž Škorjanec. She was eliminated in week 6 of the competition. In June 2021, Amfo appeared alongside her brother, Andy, on the third series of ''

Celebrity Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

.'' In December 2021, Amfo appeared on the revived series of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' and won the competition in episode 1. On 22 February 2022, she was a guest judge on the

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series '' RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also ...

episode of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World''.

References

External links

* *
''Radio 1's Future Sounds with Clara Amfo''
(BBC Radio 1)
''Radio 1's Hottest Records of the Week''
(BBC Radio 1) {{DEFAULTSORT:Amfo, Clara 1984 births Living people English people of Ghanaian descent British radio presenters BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters English radio personalities Black British DJs Black British radio presenters Women DJs People from Kingston upon Thames Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham 21st-century women musicians British women radio presenters Comic Relief people