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Kevin Francis Duala (born 23 May 1964) is a British actor and presenter. He is perhaps best known for hosting the United Kingdom's version of ''
Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and co ...
'' (1998–2003) for
Nick Jr Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
.


Biography

Duala's paternal grandfather, Thomas Duala, was Cameroonian, born c. 1900. Thomas emigrated to Britain and married Ellen McGurty; they had two sons and four daughters. Kevin Duala was born in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and is a supporter of
Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
. He was a very keen footballer before an injury ended his career and he went to drama school. He began working as a stage actor and starred as Rocky 1 in ''
Starlight Express ''Starlight Express'' is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of ...
''. After that, he gained recognition as the host of the ''
Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American live-action/animated children's television series, created by Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler, and Traci Paige Johnson, that premiered on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick Jr. block on September 8, 1996, and co ...
'' British adaptation for
Nick Jr Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
, replacing
Steve Burns ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...
and
Donovan Patton Donovan Patton (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and television host. Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and acted in Shakespeare plays such as ''Much Ado About Nothing'' and '' Romeo and Juliet'' before replacing Steve B ...
who both hosted the original American version. Duala starred in 75 episodes of Blue's Clues across 6 series. His other television credits include ''Who Wants To Be a Great Cook?'', ''
Allsorts Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...
'', and ''Modelmania''. He was also a presenter on the "Prize Time", "Games Room" and "iPlay" strands on
Challenge TV Challenge is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel mostly transmits game shows from the UK and around the world, with some original productions. History The Family Channel The channel was ...
, and also presented Virtual World of Sport on The Computer Channel, Boiled Egg and Soldiers on
Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
and Zig Zag on BBC2. Duala more recently co-presented on the Travel Channel on the shows Thomas Cook TV and Around the World for Sky. He also started fronting a financial property show named Property Boot Camp. Previously, he started presenting Spanish and European interactive language programs for the BBC and many features for HOLIDAY and Holiday on a shoestring on BBC1, where he was the unofficial adventure sports expert presenting kayaking, bungee jumping, horse-riding, ice-skating, and mountain climbing for the show. He presented travel inserts for
Thomas Cook TV Thomas Cook Group plc was a global travel group, headquartered in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange from its formation on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG — successor to Thomas Cook & Son — ...
and can be heard on the radio station
BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...
where he co-hosts ''Big Toe'', which is aimed at children and young teenagers, as well as numerous V/O commercials from the Army to Adidas. He was a presenter on the British channel Argos TV on channel number 642 until the channel was closed in May 2013. Duala co-presented the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
daytime series ''Health: Truth or Scare'' with
Angela Rippon Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...
, debunking the latest health headlines in the news in April 2017, which came back with a 2nd series in early 2018. He narrated ''A Matter of Life & Debt'' for
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
in October 2017. Duala presented a new daytime series called ''Let's Get a Good Thing Going'' that was aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
in December 2017. He had also finished filming the 2nd series of Health: Truth or Scare for BBC1 and started filming a BBC1 daytime series celebrating the great work charities are doing but also exposed the charity villains out there shown in June 2018. He is also a regular reporter for BBC's ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...
'' and has also guest presented the show. Duala will present the upcoming 15-part daytime
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 ...
series called ''Bidding Wars''. In 2022 Kevin also hosted a few episodes of Moneybags on Channel 4 when usual presenter Craig Charles was unwell.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duala, Kevin 1964 births Living people Television presenters from Liverpool English people of Cameroonian descent