Blue Peter presenters: Where are they now?

Valerie joined Christopher in 1961 and was the fourth presenter after Anita West. She stayed for 10 years, becoming a roving reporter, and went on to host BBC Radio 4 show PM as well as other business shows.
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Lesley joined in 1971 and co-hosted with John Noakes and Peter Purves. She now lives in France and works as an events organiser.
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Anita is the shortest serving presenter, having hosted just 16 episodes. She quit because of trouble in her marriage to jazz musician Ray Ellington and she was worried about damaging the show’s clean image. She might have been the first, but she wasn’t the last! Anita is now a grandmother.

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The much-loved John Noakes is pictured here with Valerie, Peter Purves and the first Blue Peter dog Petra. John sadly died in May, but remains Blue Peter's longest serving presenter, fronting the show from 1965 until 1978. (GETTY)

Peter was the show’s resident daredevil when he joined in 1980. He was hit with scandal four years into his run when a film he starred in prior to Blue Peter grabbed headlines and was branded as soft porn. He always insisted it was a psychological thriller, but left Blue Peter anyway to helm ‘Duncan Dares’.
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The actor and presenter sadly died from AIDs related illness in 1988. He was invited to join Blue Peter in 1984 after he proved popular during an interview with Janet Ellis, but he left after one year to return to acting after being cast in the movie ‘Return to Oz’.
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Mark was already a presenter when he joined Blue Peter in 1988. He went onto present Cathphrase and married long-term partner Jeremy Sandle in 2008. Yvette set up her own production company and presented ‘Most Haunted’, and appeared on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ in 2015.

John Leslie joined the team in 1989 and had a popular five-year stint before moving to ‘This Morning’. In 2001 he became main anchor with Fern Briton but left after being ‘outed’ as the person who allegedly raped Ulrika Jonsson. He has always denied it and said the accusations led him to contemplate suicide.

Anthea is probably the most famous Blue Peter presenter. She went on to front GMTV, release a number of books, and speak publicly about the breakdown of her two marriages. She recently took park in Channel 4’s First Dates.

Diane was the show’s first black presenter and went on to present Songs of Praise and she’s also a driving force behind Children In Need. Part-time actor Tim appeared in Emmerdale before moving to Los Angeles and now presents NBC’s Access Hollywood. Stuart works in radio and performs as his drag act Stella, and presnts Heart Radio Breakfast with Katy, who also runs a lifestyle blog.

Romana enjoyed two years at Blue Peter from 1997 before quitting to become a stage actress. However, she went back to university to study English, Italian and Education and became a teacher.

They were the dream team, for a short while at least. Richard fell from grace when he was sacked after just 18 months for taking cocaine in a nightclub. He went onto guest host The Wright Stuff and This Morning and has now moved to the US with his partner and two children and hopes to build a presenting career over there. Konnie Huq was crowned the nation’s favourite presenter and is longest-standing woman to host the show. She’s now married to Charlie Brooker and has presented the One Show.
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Gethin became the 31st presenter to join Blue Peter. He’s a recognisable star on TV in Wales and England and joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2007. He presented Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two in 2016. Andy hosts Inside Out, and Zoe has taken a step back from presenting but has appeared on Celebrity Masterchef.
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Since leaving, Helen has presented Country File and is becoming more involved in sports presenting, having received acclaim for her coverage of the swimming in the Rio Olympics in 2016.