
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters: Meet Paralympian Ade Adepitan
As someone who has made their bravery and resilience clear throughout their career, perhaps it's not such a surprise to see Paralympian Ade plunged into a shark cage on the show after all. And if it's made you question where you've seen him before then you've come to the right place. Here's everything you need to know about the presenter.
Ade, whose full name is Adedoyin Olayiwola, is a TV presenter and wheelchair basketball player who has hosted travel documentaries and sports programmes for BBC and Channel 4 for more than 20 years.
In 2004, Ade won a bronze medal at the Summer Paralympics playing wheelchair basketball. He is an advocate for promoting access to sport for disabled people and received an MBE for his services to disability sport in 2005.
Ade got his start as an actor and appeared in Casualty and Desperados and Eastenders before moving into presenting in the early 2000s. He appeared on Channel 4's Unreported World during the 2010s and That Paramlympic Show in 2012 with Rick Edwards.
Ade hosted Africa with Ade Adepitan in 2019 and Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline in 2021. Ade has also presented the Invictus Games, The One Show and World's Biggest Cities on the BBC.
In 2025, Ade appeared on Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters alongside Lenny Henry, Amandaland star Lucy Punch, Helen George, Rachel Riley, Dougie Poynter and Ross Noble. In the show's attempt to showcase sharks in a new light, Ade takes on the physical challenges with twice the difficulty and vigour because of his disability, making him twice as impressive.
Ade was born in Lagos in Nigeria where he contracted polio as an infant. This caused damage to his legs which required him to use a wheelchair.
Yes, Ade has been married to singer Linda Harrison, who performs as Elle Exxe, since 2018. They have a son who was born in 2021.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across entertainment, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things pop culture for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow with equal respect).
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South Wales Guardian
4 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
The Grinch and Blue Lights most watched film and programme in Northern Ireland
Broadcast TV, such as BBC and UTV, was found to continue to dominate viewing habits in the region, but streamers such as Netflix and video sharing platforms like YouTube are on the rise. Ofcom's latest Media Nations report shows that people in Northern Ireland watched an average of four hours and 48 minutes of video content at home per day in 2024, an 18-minute year-on-year increase. The region once again watched the most live broadcast TV of all the nations (two hours and six minutes) and was the only nation which had an increase in live viewing. Almost three quarters of households (74%) were found to have at least one subscription-video-on-demand (SVoD) service, with Amazon Prime Video the most popular, present in 59% of homes ahead of Netflix. In terms of broadcast TV, the BBC held an 18% share of total video viewing, followed by ITV/UTV with a 15% share. However, in a reflection of changing viewing habits, YouTube comes in next with a 12% share ahead of other TV channels and streamers like Netflix. Individuals in Northern Ireland spent 35 minutes per day on average viewing YouTube across all devices in the home in 2024. Meanwhile the Grinch was the most watched film on TV in 2024, ahead of Blue Lights, which was the most watched programme in 2023. The Grinch was the most-watched title last year, averaging 637,000 viewers on Netflix on TV sets across the whole year. The BBC took the next two spots, with the season two premiere of Blue Lights averaging 556,000 viewers, followed by Christmas Day's Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, averaging 478,000. Entertainment on UTV also made the top 10, with an episode of I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and The 1% Club ranking fifth and sixth, averaging 384,000 and 367,000 viewers respectively. The report also found that TV channels BBC One (33%) and UTV (32%) were the most popular sources for news about Northern Ireland. Radio featured much more prominently in Northern Ireland for local news compared to other nations with BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and Cool FM/Downtown also appearing in the top five most used news sources used for news about Northern Ireland. The region saw strong performance for local radio, with more than six in 10 adults (63.9%) listening to local commercial radio at least once a week – higher than in England, Scotland, Wales and the UK as a whole. In terms of newer technology, four in ten households (41%) in Northern Ireland have a smart speaker, more than double the proportion with a DAB radio in the home (19%). In terms of podcasts, nearly one in five (19%) adults in Northern Ireland were found to listen to them at least once a week in quarter one of 2025. However, this remains lower than the UK reach figure of 22.4%, and year-on-year growth in Northern Ireland has slowed again while other nations' have increased. Jonathan Rose, Ofcom's Northern Ireland director, said the report illustrates the enduring popularity of local radio. 'People in Northern Ireland are spending more time than ever in front of their screens,' he said. 'Broadcast TV remains popular but streamers like Amazon Prime Video and video-sharing platforms like YouTube are also now a firmly established part of our daily viewing diet. 'Our research also shows the enduring popularity of radio and especially local radio. 'Listeners in Northern Ireland have a real connection with local voices as well as news and views that reflects what's happening on their own doorstep.'


Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
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Leader Live
4 hours ago
- Leader Live
The Grinch and Blue Lights most watched film and programme in Northern Ireland
Broadcast TV, such as BBC and UTV, was found to continue to dominate viewing habits in the region, but streamers such as Netflix and video sharing platforms like YouTube are on the rise. Ofcom's latest Media Nations report shows that people in Northern Ireland watched an average of four hours and 48 minutes of video content at home per day in 2024, an 18-minute year-on-year increase. The region once again watched the most live broadcast TV of all the nations (two hours and six minutes) and was the only nation which had an increase in live viewing. Almost three quarters of households (74%) were found to have at least one subscription-video-on-demand (SVoD) service, with Amazon Prime Video the most popular, present in 59% of homes ahead of Netflix. In terms of broadcast TV, the BBC held an 18% share of total video viewing, followed by ITV/UTV with a 15% share. However, in a reflection of changing viewing habits, YouTube comes in next with a 12% share ahead of other TV channels and streamers like Netflix. Individuals in Northern Ireland spent 35 minutes per day on average viewing YouTube across all devices in the home in 2024. Meanwhile the Grinch was the most watched film on TV in 2024, ahead of Blue Lights, which was the most watched programme in 2023. The Grinch was the most-watched title last year, averaging 637,000 viewers on Netflix on TV sets across the whole year. The BBC took the next two spots, with the season two premiere of Blue Lights averaging 556,000 viewers, followed by Christmas Day's Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, averaging 478,000. Entertainment on UTV also made the top 10, with an episode of I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and The 1% Club ranking fifth and sixth, averaging 384,000 and 367,000 viewers respectively. The report also found that TV channels BBC One (33%) and UTV (32%) were the most popular sources for news about Northern Ireland. Radio featured much more prominently in Northern Ireland for local news compared to other nations with BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and Cool FM/Downtown also appearing in the top five most used news sources used for news about Northern Ireland. The region saw strong performance for local radio, with more than six in 10 adults (63.9%) listening to local commercial radio at least once a week – higher than in England, Scotland, Wales and the UK as a whole. In terms of newer technology, four in ten households (41%) in Northern Ireland have a smart speaker, more than double the proportion with a DAB radio in the home (19%). In terms of podcasts, nearly one in five (19%) adults in Northern Ireland were found to listen to them at least once a week in quarter one of 2025. However, this remains lower than the UK reach figure of 22.4%, and year-on-year growth in Northern Ireland has slowed again while other nations' have increased. Jonathan Rose, Ofcom's Northern Ireland director, said the report illustrates the enduring popularity of local radio. 'People in Northern Ireland are spending more time than ever in front of their screens,' he said. 'Broadcast TV remains popular but streamers like Amazon Prime Video and video-sharing platforms like YouTube are also now a firmly established part of our daily viewing diet. 'Our research also shows the enduring popularity of radio and especially local radio. 'Listeners in Northern Ireland have a real connection with local voices as well as news and views that reflects what's happening on their own doorstep.'