Odunayo Andrew Akinwolere (born 30 November 1982), previously known as Andy Akinwolere, is a British television presenter.

Early life

Akinwolere was born in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

, Nigeria in 1982, and moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with his family when he was eight years old, where he adopted the name "Andy". They settled in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, where he went to school. His parents are doctors and work in

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Education

Akinwolere attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...

, a district of

, and then

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

, from which he graduated in 2004, with a BA degree in

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

Career

Akinwolere's first job was as a

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

for the BBC. He was asked to audition by one of the ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' directors he met whilst eating out with colleagues; he had previously intended to go into documentary-making and radio. He began co-presenting ''Blue Peter'' on 28 June 2006. Whilst on the show he was nominated for two

British Academy Children's Awards The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Aca ...

: the Presenter of the Year Children's BAFTA, and with ''Blue Peter'' the following year for Best Factual Programme. In 2008 as lead presenter Akinwolere hosted

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

to celebrate 50 years of ''Blue Peter''. In June 2011, he set a new world record for the deepest location for an open water swim, when he swam more than five miles across the

Palau Trench Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

in the Pacific Ocean – the first person to have done so. This was the last major challenge he did on ''

'' before leaving the show at the end of the season. He took part in the TV programme ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'', competing against fellow presenter Konnie Huq in December 2007. In the same year he appeared on the ''

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

'' where he was the fifth to be eliminated. On 25 April 2011, Akinwolere was a contestant on ''

Total Wipeout ''Total Wipeout'' is a British game show, hosted by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, which first aired on the BBC on 3 January 2009. In each episode, contestants competed in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challen ...

s second Celebrity Special of series 4 but had to quit due to injury. In 2012, he co-presented the third season of '' Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge'' alongside

Laura Hamilton Laura Jane Hamilton (born 24 April 1982) is an English television presenter, property expert and entrepreneur. She began her career on children's television, presenting shows such as ''Fun Song Factory'' and on Nickelodeon. She participated in ...

. He presented the show for two series. Both were nominated for a

for Best Entertainment Programme in 2014. In 2012 Akinwolere went to Jamaica to interview sprinter

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

, in a documentary for 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 ...

. The documentary looked to understand through various theories, why Jamaica as a nation had dominated the world of sprinting for so long. In January 2013 he appeared in a special series of ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, att ...

'' for Comic Relief which was won by

Warwick Davis Warwick Ashley Davis (born 3 February 1970) is an English actor. He played the title character in ''Willow'' (1988) and the ''Leprechaun'' film series (1993–2003), several characters in the ''Star Wars'' film series (1983–2019), most nota ...

. In 2016 Akinwolere was a contestant on '' Celebrity Master Chef'' in which he competed with

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 ...

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

Kimberly Wyatt Kimberly Kaye Wyatt (born February 4, 1982) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She is a former member of the pop/ R&B girl group and dance ensemble The Pussycat Dolls. She is also a member of the ...

and

Craig Gazey Craig Gazey (born 24 February 1982) is a British stage and television actor, best known for his portrayal of Graeme Proctor in the ITV (TV network), ITV soap ''Coronation Street''. Early life Gazey attended Our Lady's Roman Catholic High Schoo ...

. From 2014, Akinwolere became the presenter of the BBC's current affairs programme ''

Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: *Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...

'' for the West Midlands for which he has won the Best Factual

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award for his documentary on extremism. While presenting Inside Out West Midlands, he resumed using the name Ayo, his birth name. In 2018, he became a co-presenter on

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 coverage of the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. In September 2020, Akinwolere was hired by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

(US) to present the UEFA Europa League edition of the whiparound show The Golazo Show which airs in the US on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

and is streamed to US viewers via

Paramount Plus Paramount+ is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Me ...

on match Thursdays. Panelists on the UEFA Europa League edition of The Golazo Show include Nicolás Cantor,

Lianne Sanderson Lianne Joan Sanderson (born 3 February 1988) is a current broadcaster and former English professional footballer who played as a forward. She won 50 caps for the England national team. At international level, Sanderson made her debut for Englan ...

and

Julien Laurens Julien Laurens (born 4th October 1980) is a French football journalist and broadcaster based in London. Career Laurens works for the French newspaper Le Parisien, and has featured regularly on BT Sport Talksport and ESPN as well as contribut ...

Personal life

Akinwolere has four siblings – three brothers and one sister who live in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His first language growing up was

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

, in addition to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

; which he learned when the family moved to

. His parents both lived abroad for a while and he spent a small part of his childhood living in Nancy,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He is an amateur photographer and has had pictures published in National Geographic Kids Magazine and the 2010 Christmas edition of Vogue Bambini. He is also a keen collector of rare

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

and rare music. He lives in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Filmography

Awards

In 2008 and 2010 Akinwolere was nominated for Presenter of the year at BAFTA Children's Award
BAFTA Children's Awards 2008 nominees
2015 won a

award for his ''

'' documentary on Extremism

References

External links

Akinwolere's blog on Blue Peter website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akinwolere, Andy Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University Black British television personalities Blue Peter presenters English people of Yoruba descent Yoruba television personalities Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Nigerian expatriates in France Nigerian male swimmers Yoruba sportspeople 1982 births Living people People from Birmingham, West Midlands English male swimmers