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June Konadu Sarpong (born 31 May 1977) is a British television presenter and executive. She was a panellist on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''
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 ...
'' and is currently a panellist on the
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
programme '' The Pledge''. In November 2019, Sarpong was appointed as the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's first Director of Creative Diversity.


Early life and education

Sarpong was born in
Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...
, London, to
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian parents Thelma ( Amihere) and Samuel Sarpong. She was educated at
Connaught School for Girls Connaught School for Girls is a single-sex girls' secondary school and comprehensive school situated in Leytonstone, London. It educates up to 636 girls between the ages of 11 and 16. In February 2013 it became an academy. History The first sc ...
in
Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...
and
Sir George Monoux College Sir George Monoux College is a sixth form college located in Walthamstow, London. It is a medium-sized college with around 1,620 full-time students as of 2018. Brief history Sir George Monoux, the founder of the Grammar School (later College ...
in
Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
.


Career

She began her media career with the radio station
Kiss 100 Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Kiss Network. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group and broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio, as well as on FM in London, Bristol an ...
around 1997. and later became an
MTV UK and Ireland MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & ...
presenter (MTV ''Dance Floor Chart''). In 2001, she appeared on ''
Lily Savage's Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which started in 1979 and is still running today, albeit with some sizeable gaps. The original series ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC1, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 un ...
'' (ITV). As one of the female faces of
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 ...
’s daytime teen-aimed strand T4 for nine years, she interviewed
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
for a T4 special, ''When Tony Met June'', which aired in January 2005. She runs her own production company, Lipgloss Productions. Projects in development include a sitcom and a programme on climate change. In recent years, Sarpong has presented other series, including ''
Your Face or Mine? ''Your Face or Mine?'' is a British comedy game show that originally aired on E4 from September 2002 to May 2003, hosted by Jimmy Carr and June Sarpong. Comedy Central revived the show in 2017 with Carr and Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa R ...
'', a game show co-hosted with
Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...
for E4; ''Dirty Laundry'', an urban talk-show that was an original idea of Sarpong's; ''Playing It Straight'', a dating game-show filmed in Mexico for Channel 4, and Sarpong has presented the ''Smash Hits Poll Winners Party'' and the ''Party In The Park''. She is a regular at the
MOBO The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
Awards and presented them for three years in a row. She has also appeared on BBC Television's ''
Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
'', Channel 4's ''
8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...
'', and BBC's '' Have I Got News for You''. She also has appeared on the programme ''
Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...
'' and introduced reports on youth culture for ''This Week''. In 2006 she hosted
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 ...
's ''
WAGs Boutique ''WAGs Boutique'' is a reality television show on ITV2 in which two teams of WAGs (footballers' wives and girlfriends) ran two rival fashion boutiques over a three-month period. Format Ten women are split into two teams, both of which run ne ...
''. Sarpong has also appeared on the third series of ''
Bo' Selecta! ''Bo' Selecta!'' is a British television sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 2002 until 2009 and lampooned popular culture, becoming known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour. Seas ...
''. Sarpong appeared in the '' Extras'' Special Series Finale with
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...
(2007). On 22 October 2007 it was announced that she had quit her presenter role on T4 after nine years. Her last show was broadcast on 23 December 2007. Sarpong made a guest appearance in ''
Little Miss Jocelyn ''Little Miss Jocelyn'' is a British TV sketch comedy written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch. The series r ...
'' series 2, episode 3 (2008). On 6 November 2009 she hosted the Sky1 programme ''Michael Jackson: The Search for...His Spirit'', in which she went around locations pertinent to
Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...
's life looking for signs of his ghost. The programme was broadcast as part of a double bill, the second part comprising a live
séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...
conducted by
Derek Acorah Derek Francis Johnson (27 January 1950 – 4 January 2020), known professionally as Derek Acorah, was a British spiritual medium. He was best known for his television work on ''Most Haunted'', broadcast on Living TV (2002–2010). His career ...
, for which Sarpong again played host. Sarpong worked as an interviewer on
Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...
's ''
Conspiracy Theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
'' show broadcast on
TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...
. On the first episode she made the claim that the
2004 Tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
was not preceded by "pretremors or any warning". Journalist
Peter Hadfield Peter Robert Hadfield (born 21 January 1955) is an Australian Olympic athlete who competed in the decathlon. Hadfield won a total of nine Australian Championships in Athletics between 1976 and 1985. He didn't compete in the National Cha ...
criticized this claim as being unsupported by seismological records and scientific papers. In late 2013,
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
performed a variation of his 1970 hit "
Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in M ...
" with the amended lyrics "You can tell everybody 'You're June Sarpong'" as an apparent reference to an in-joke between the pair from a charity event earlier that year. After the "#WheresJuneSarpongGone" campaign begun by ''
Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game on ITV2, broadcast since 24 September 2008. The show is written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon, and its current team captains Laura Whitmore ...
'' on 19 March 2015, ''
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 ...
'' welcomed her to the panel as a guest panellist on 23 March. Following her first appearance back on screen, Sarpong appeared on ''Celebrity Juice'', in
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'', ...
's team, on 2 April. After appearing alongside
Ruth Langsford Ruth Wendy Holmes (née; Langsford; born 17 March 1960) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including '' This Morning'' (1999–present) in which she is the longest serving presenter, '' Gift Wrapped ...
,
Coleen Nolan Coleen Patricia Nolan (born 12 March 1965) is an English singer, television personality, and author. She was a member of the girl group The Nolans from 1980 to 1994, in which she sang with her sisters. Since 2000, Nolan has been a regular panell ...
and
Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...
on 23 March 2015, as a guest panellist, Sarpong later appeared as a guest panellist a further three times on 16 April, 17 April and 1 May. Since appearing on the programme again on 15 May, she became a regular panellist, initially as cover for
Sherrie Hewson Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson (born 17 September 1950) is an English actress, television personality and novelist. She is known for her roles as Maureen Holdsworth in ''Coronation Street'' (1993–1997, 2006), Virginia Raven in ''Crossroads'' (2001– ...
, while Hewson was filming ''
Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though ...
'', later on 21 July 2015, Sarpong became a regular. She left the show in December 2016 and made 46 appearances in total. On 7 January 2016, June made an emotional speech live on ''
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 ...
'', following the death of her brother. The first part of the show was dedicated to him. A picture of a rainbow was re-tweeted more than 5,000 times throughout the course of the show, in his memory. She has been a panellist on two series of '' Debatable'' on
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 ...
. Since April 2016, June has made regular appearances on
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
'' The Pledge''. She is the author of the books ''Diversify: Six Degrees of integration'' (2017) and ''The Power of Women'' (2018).


Advocacy

In August 2014, Sarpong was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. In October 2015, she joined the board of the
Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 British referendum. It was launched at the Old Truma ...
campaign, lobbying for the United Kingdom to remain in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.


Personal life

Her older brother was the late
Sam Sarpong Samuel Osei Sarpong Jr. (19 December 1974 – 26 October 2015) was a British actor, supermodel, and musician. He performed in over sixty feature films and fifty-five television shows, including such films as ''Carmen The Hip Hopera'', '' Love D ...
, who was an actor and host of MTV's ''
Yo Momma ''Yo Momma'' is an American television show based upon insulting one's mother. Creators, executive producers and hosts are Wilmer Valderrama, along with Sam Sarpong (Seasons 1 and 2), Jason Everhart and Destiny Lightsy. The show was produced ...
''. He died on 26 October 2015 at the age of 40 after jumping off a bridge in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...
.


Honours

Sarpong was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...
for services to broadcasting and to charity and
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the
2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
for services to broadcasting.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarpong, June 1977 births Living people BBC executives Black British television personalities Black British women writers British Christians British people of Ghanaian descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire