Big Brother's new hosts are AJ Odudu and Will Best, ITV has announced.
The pair will alternately the main programme, which is back this year after being cancelled in 2018. They will preside over the weekly evictions and grill the housemates about everything that happens in the famous house.
The pair will also host a second live show every night, where they will discuss all the current issues in the home.
The reality TV series, which was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 2000 before moving to Channel 5 in 2011, will be broadcast on ITV2 and ITV’s streaming service, ITVX .
So who is AJ Odudu? Here’s all you need to know.
Who is AJ Odudu, Big Brother’s new co-host?
Odudu is a television presenter from Blackburn, England. She is best known for co-presenting the 2013 Channel 5 reality show spin-off Big Brother’s Bit on the Side, alongside Emma Willis and Rylan Clark. She also presented the 2021 Channel 4 reality show spin-off Married at First Sight: Afters.
Odudu, 35, attended St. Mary's College and St. Bede's RC High School in Blackburn. She earned a degree in politics and English from Keele University.
Odudu began her reporting career as a Radio Lancashire-based reporter for BBC Blast. Her initial presenting duties were on The Almost Perfect Guide to Life on BBC Two and The 5:19 Show, an online programme on the BBC website, where she had previously worked as the latter's "roving reporter."
In June 2013, Odudu began presenting Big Brother’s Bit on the Side with Clark and Willis, and then Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Psych from August 2013. Her departure from the show was confirmed in November 2013, and she was replaced by Celebrity Big Brother 12 contestant and former Loose Women panellist, Carol McGiffin.
More recently, she was a competitor on the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021. Although she qualified for the final with professional dance partner Kai Widdrington, Odudu had to withdraw from the competition after she tore a ligament in her right ankle.
Odudu co-hosted The Big Breakfast revival with Mo Gilligan in September 2021.
She delivered the UK jury's evaluations during the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. She will co-host the official handover and semi-final allocation draw for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be broadcast live on BBC Two.
She hosted the BBC's coverage of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in June 2022.
Odudu is also known to ITV audiences, having presented backstage on The Voice UK and The Voice Kids.
She lives in south-east London and is reportedly a qualified personal trainer and sports nutritionist. She also runs in her spare time.
