Andy Akinwolere joins 'Blue Peter' crew

Andy Akinwolere has joined the crew of family favourite Blue Peter, the BBC has announced.

The new presenter, being brought in to replace Matt Baker, who announced his departure earlier this month, was working as a CBBC runner when he was put forward for the role.

Andy, 23, explained: "A runner is the most junior job in a TV production team. I'd set my heart on working my way up to making documentary films. Being a presenter didn't come into it!

"I was chatting to a group of colleagues one night and little did I realise, one of them was a director on Blue Peter. She suggested me for the job and I thought, why not give it a go? I never thought I stood a chance!"

Nigerian-born Akinwolere's previous employment includes a radio slot on BBC Radio WM in the West Midlands. He enjoys football and writing poetry in his spare time.

Blue Peter editor Richard Marson said of the appointment: "We've been looking for our new boy for three months and the audition process has been our most rigorous ever. We interviewed scores of hopefuls from all over the UK with very different backgrounds.

"Andy came to our attention right towards the end of the process and he did incredibly well considering he had no plans to become a presenter. He's fresh, bright, determined and totally natural. We think he has real star quality and audiences are going to love him."

He will make his first Blue Peter appearance at the beginning of the show's next series, on Monday, September 18.