AJ Odudu has described presenting Friday’s Comic Relief Red Nose Day as a “pinch me moment” as she grew up watching it with her family.
The television host, 35, who was a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, said she was “super excited” to be one of the main hosts.
She said: “I feel so lucky to be part of be of the biggest charity events of the year. It is a show I have grown up watching so to be part of such a historical event is amazing.
“It is bonkers. It is a pinch me moment.”
She said appearing on Strictly was good preparation for the nerves that come with presenting a live show.
Odudu said: “100 per cent I still always get butterflies and get a bit nervous. But it is all positive energy. That show [Strictly] has prepared me for all the nerves I could ever have. Hearing my name every Saturday night, thinking: ‘I have forgotten this dance, why am I here?’ It has prepared me for sure.”
The star will soon be hosting Channel 4 show The Big Interiors Battle - which is filmed in Sheffield - and said it was encouraging to see more of the North on TV.
The host of Big Brother’s Bit On The Side and Married at First Sight: Afters said more needed to be done to ensure a “diverse range of people and voices” on screen.
Odudu, who is from Blackburn, said: “When I think back to me as a little girl dreaming of being a TV presenter, I always knew that Blackburn wasn’t the place to achieve those dreams. I knew I had to get to London.
“I think there should be way more [shows] but it is amazing when you get to showcase and get to visit places in the UK that are just as stunning as London.
“On Strictly, when I took my dance partner (professional dancer Kai Widdrington) to visit Blackburn, even though I was born and raised in Blackburn, seeing Blackburn on the telly for that minute and a half, I got so excited. If I felt like that, there is going to be loads of other people who feel like that.”
She continued: “Everyone wants to be seen and visible at some point through something. Having a diverse range of people and voices is an amazing celebration of our individualiy and the things that make us, us.”
AJ Odudu will host Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day telethon on Friday from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
She will also host ‘The Big Interiors Battle’, coming soon to Channel 4.
