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Sophie Brownson

Meet the Geordie historian who stars in Harry and Meghan's new Netflix series

You might have seen him on the popular BBC show 'A House Through Time.'

Now TV presenter and historian, David Olusoga OBE, has appeared on the new Netflix show 'Harry & Meghan.' But many people will not realise that the 52-year-old is a Geordie who was brought up in Gateshead.

It is understood Mr Olusoga now lives in Bristol with his family, however, his North East roots run deep as the star grew up on a Tyneside council estate. Mr Olusoga moved to Gateshead from Nigeria when he was five years old and over the years he has spoken of his love for the area as well as encounters with racism.

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He left the town to study the history of slavery at the University of Liverpool before embarking on his career as a TV producer and presenter.

Mr Olusoga, who is a professor of Public History at the University of Manchester, is well known for fronting shows such as 'A House Through Time' and as the author of 'Black and British: A Forgotten History.' The presenter also interviewed Barack Obama in 2020 about the first volume of his presidential memoirs, ' A Promised Land .'

Mr Olusoga's latest project has seen him join a panel of experts on the new Netflix documentary series about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, called 'Harry & Meghan' which was released on Thursday, December 8.

The streaming service promised viewers that the show would give an insight into the couple and their relationship, saying: "From their courtship to their exit from royal life, Harry and Meghan share their complex journey in their own words in this docuseries."

Mr Olusoga, who received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from the Queen in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to history and to community integration, appeared in episodes two and three of the show.

In the series, he discusses racism and the debate around Brexit, where he argued that "immigration was at the absolute centre" of that debate.

The expert, who has been granted the freedom of Gateshead, said in the show: "This fairy tale is embedding itself in a nation that is having a pretty toxic debate about the European Union.

"If you go back and look at the social media of that moment, immigration was in the absolute centre of those debates. And immigration is very often, in this country, a cipher for race."

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