The world’s longest-running children’s TV show has today unveiled Bangor, Northern Ireland-born Joel Mawhinney as the newest Blue Peter presenter.
Mawhinney will be the 41st Blue Peter presenter and will co-host from Dock10 in MediaCityUK alongside Richie, Mwaksy and Henry the dog. His live debut will air on Friday 11th November on CBBC and BBC iPlayer at 5pm.
Mawhinney, 25, is a magician and content creator who first appeared on Blue Peter in 2018 as a guest. He also guest presented the show over summer 2022 when he taught some of his co-presenters magic tricks. The show’s producers say that his rapport with both the audience and his fellow presenters led to his appointment.
The new host attended Bangor Grammar before going on to pursue his career in entertainment at age 18. He said: “Becoming the 41st Blue Peter presenter is a surreal – and dare I say it – magical experience. I’ve always loved making people smile with my magic and I want to do the same for the Blue Peter audience. They have high expectations and I’ll do my best to live up to them, I can’t wait to get started.”
Joel will be thrown in at the deep end in true Blue Peter style with a road trip to Scotland, where there will surprises and challenges suggested by the Blue Peter audience. There’ll be glamping, kayaking and cliff jumping into the cold waters of Loch Ard as Joel takes on his first Blue Peter adventure.
Blue Peter editor, Ellen Evans, said: “Joel is a fantastic entertainer, he is creative, hardworking, and ready for any challenge that we can throw at him. I think that our Blue Peter audience will love the energy and fun he’ll bring to the show.”
Joel is the latest in an illustrious list of Northern Irish presenters of the much-loved show. Previous incumbents include Adam Beales, who left the show earlier this year, the sadly-missed Caron Keating, and Zoe Salmon, who is also from the seaside town of Bangor, County Down.
Blue Peter is produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family. It is on CBBC every Friday at 5pm and is also available on BBC iPlayer.
