Suzanne Jane Dando, BEM (born 3 July 1961 in

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

, London) is a British former

Olympic gymnast Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

, who competed at the 1979 World Gymnastics Championship in Fort Worth, Dallas and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow. Since her retirement, she has worked as a television broadcaster for a number of channels, including

BBC1 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, ...

BBC2 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 ...

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 ...

and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

and serves as a patron and trustee of a number of charities.

Early life

Suzanne Dando was born in Balham, London and spent her early years in Merstham Surrey. Aged 6, her parents moved to

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

, Sussex where she spent her childhood. Suzanne has one sister. She studied at Uckfield Comprehensive and Catford Girls School.

British and Olympic gymnast

Her gymnastics talent was first recognised at age eleven by her school

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher Anne Billingham. She quickly passed all the BAGA awards and climbed onto the uneven bars for the first time when she was 12. In 1975 she had to leave her family home in Sussex and move to London to further her gymnastics career. She first represented her country at international level in 1976 aged just 15 when she competed for Britain against West Germany. After winning many National titles, in 1977 she was awarded a

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

Scholarship

Churchill Fellowship Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

allowing her to spend time training in the US in 1978. She returned to the US in early 1979, returning home in time to compete in the British Championships. Unfortunately she sustained an injury and could not compete, which then ruled her out of the squad for the 1979 European Championships. On recovery, she went on to represent her country in the more competitive arena of the 1979 World Championships, Fort Worth, Dallas USA, gaining her F.I.G. Gold Pin. In 1980, Dando won the 'Champion of Champions' title at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. In May she became the Overall British National Champion. She led her teammates, Susan Cheesborough and Denise Jones, to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Dando improved dramatically on her standing (48th) following prelims, finishing 27th in the AA competition.

Retirement

Like many gymnasts, Dando retired after the Olympics, explaining that the direction the sport was taking concerned her, as the serious injuries, like

Yelena Mukhina Elena Vyacheslavovna Mukhina (russian: Елена Вячеславовна Мухина; first name sometimes rendered "Yelena", last name sometimes rendered "Muchina"; 1 June 196022 December 2006) was a Soviet Union, Soviet gymnast who won th ...

's, were increasing. Dando later revealed to the UK press that she had suffered

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

whilst a gymnast. At one point, her parents and coaches reduced her training until she regained her strength and started eating properly.

After gymnastics

Following her retirement, Dando coached the under fives in gymnastics at the Lewisham Leisure Centre in South London. She wrote a book, ''"Fun Ways to Looking Good"'', and produced and presented her own fitness video, ''"Flexercise"''. In the early 1980s, she made several appearances for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, citing

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

as her inspiration. In 1982 she competed in and became the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

Superstars Champion. In 1983, Dando was the gymnastics supervisor for the

Bond film James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niven ...

, ''

Octopussy ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...

''. The following year her fitness album, ''Shape Up and Dance with Suzanne Dando'', peaked at No. 87 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Dando has had a career in show business, serving as a TV presenter on a variety of shows for

, ITV and

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

. Dando also worked as a model, actress and singer. Her TV career started with the

presenting the children's programme 'Stopwatch' with

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...

and

Janice Long Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, s ...

. She first joined

at the end of 1993, mainly live programs on basketball and show jumping, with the odd stint on the

for national and international gymnastics events. She presented the

art programme, 'Awash with Colour,' and BBC's 'The Pet Set'. Most recently co-presenting Horse of Year Show 2009.

Charitable activity

Dando has been an ambassador of

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

since 1999 and a patron for Against Breast Cancer since the early 1990s. She has taken part in many of their fundraising events over the years, such as launching the Oxford Bike Ride and more recently the charity's first Breast Walk Ever, a marathon walk throughout

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. A former Honorary Vice-President of

The Children's Trust 'The Children's Trust'' is the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury. The Children's Trust runs a range of specialist care, education and therapy services for children and young people from across the UK, including the UK's larges ...

, she raised over £18,000 running the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

in 2008 alongside her husband Adam Reynolds and the Children's Trust former patient, Alfie Russell. In 2011, she teamed up with Russell again when they successfully summited

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

, raising another £11,000 for charity. A passionate supporter of the men and women of Britain's Armed Forces, Suzanne in 2010 coordinated The Remembrance Expedition in support of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

. Following an old wartime escape route, she led a team of women past and present from the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and Army across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, raising £38,000 for the charities' proposed Battle Back Centres. A former trustee of The Baton charity, founded by friend Alan Rowe MBE, Suzanne in 2013 ran the Baton Relay, a 110-mile team run from RAF Brize Norton though the night to the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Shropshire. Dando is a lifelong animal lover and has rescued a number of dogs, cats and horses. She currently lends her support to the Dogs Trust and Blue Cross (by sponsoring dogs), as well as her local branch of Riding for The Disabled Association and the World Horse Welfare. In the 2015

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, Suzanne was awarded a

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(BEM) for services to charity.

Personal life

In July 1987, Dando married Graham Maclean, a composer and songwriter, in Westminster. However, the marriage broke down. In September 1996 Dando married the Australian actor Bruce Roberts at

but he returned to Australia alone in the winter of 1998. At the time he said that he hoped their relationship could survive the separation. It did not and the couple divorced. Dando is now married to businessman Adam Reynolds and lives in Oxfordshire.

Competition record

* Lilia-White Championships: 1st UB * Grade 6 National Champion. * Grade 4 National Champion. * British Vault Champion. * British Beam Champion. * British Floor Champion. * GBR-TCH Dual Meet: 4th AA * GBR-HUN Dual Meet: 5th AA * GBR Nationals: 3rd AA * Coca-Cola International v China: 7th AA (tie) * 1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships..16th * 1980 British Championship: 1st AA * 1980 Champions Cup: 1st AA * 1980 GBR-HUN Dual Meet: 3rd AA * 1980 Champions All: 6th AA * 1980 Cottbus Intl: 14th AA * 1980 Summer Olympics:27th AA

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dando, Suzanne 1961 births Living people People from Wandsworth British female artistic gymnasts English television presenters English businesspeople Olympic gymnasts of Great Britain Gymnasts at the 1980 Summer Olympics