You may know him as Andy from the hit British television show ‘Blue Peter’ but how much do you really know of Odunayo Andrew Akinwolere.
Ayo Akinwolere was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. His family moved to Nancy, France before moving to the United Kingdom at the age of 8. With his father working in France and his mother spending time in Osaka, Japan whilst she was growing up, Ayo states that growing as a child there was always a mix of different cultures in his house.
“I’ve always had a mixture of culture in my household, there would be French music playing in the background sometimes, we’ve had some Nigerian music playing in the background and I’ve always kind of had that worldly view”.
Akinwolere then continued his education in Birmingham and graduated with a degree in Media Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. He is most famously known for being the 32nd presenter of the BBC television programme Blue Peter and the first ever black male to present the show. During his time, he was nominated for the Presenter of the Year award and Best Factual Programme with Blue Peter. Since then Ayo has featured on Ready Steady Cook; Weakest Link, Total Wipeout and Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge.
Speaking to Ayo, something he was passionate about was using his platform to change people’s perspective. In 2015, he created The Swim Challenge which was a project looking to prove that people of colour can swim. At the age of 28 he taught himself how to swim and now is one of four people of colour in the world with a swimming world record.
“I realised a lot of people that could swim where predominately white but there wasn’t that many people of colour swimming and I thought I’m actually one of those statistics… In order to change things, you have to be the example you want to see".
In an industry in which 94% journalists are white, Ayo is one of the standout broadcasters paving a way for more BAME journalists and broadcasters.Statistics show that BAME representation not only in sports but the media industry is a cause for concern. Ayo explained how important BAME representation is today.
“It is key across the board in all industries, to increase representation in general and within the media…You just being there tells someone that they can do it”.
“We need to start creating allies in the industry, people that we know that have got that change in mind”
Throughout the years Akinwolere has co-presented on the European Rugby Champions Cup and Ireland Rugby Internationals both with Channel 4 and Premier League's productions Fanzone alongside Kelly Sommers
Also currently working as a presenter for Premier League Today, Ayo also features in a podcast,carries on with the swim challenge, is a DJ and is very proud of his diverse passions.
"My love of music has taken a massive backseat from the last 6 or 7 years because i just haven't had time... the original passion when I started when i was 21 is now what I love doing".
His Juju music passion stems from his Yoruba background and the award winning broadcaster and now found his club night music a home in the heart of London Soho Radio.
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