Konnie Huq
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Konnie Huq (Bengali: কনি হক), (born 17 July 1975), is a British television presenter.
Huq's parents moved to England from Bangladesh in the 1960s, and she was born and grew up in Ealing, London, with her two sisters, Rupa and Nutun. She was educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School in London, and Robinson College, Cambridge, where she obtained a first in Economics.
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[edit] Early career
In 1989, at the age of 14, Huq was a guest on Blue Peter with the National Youth Music Theatre, where she sang a solo. In 1992, ahead of the upcoming General Election, Huq interviewed Neil Kinnock for the children's programme Newsround.
In 1997, several months prior to joining Blue Peter, Huq presented Five's early morning children's programme Milkshake!
[edit] Blue Peter
Huq currently presents the children's television show Blue Peter and became its first Asian presenter when she joined on 1 December 1997. (At the time, Huq was regarded as being its 25th presenter, but the subsequent acknowledgment of Anita West as a former presenter, in 1998, means Huq is now the programme's 26th host.) Konnie will leave in April 2007 after nearly 10 years on the show, meaning Zoe Salmon, who joined in 2005, will be the longest-running presenter in the current team.
One of Huq's most memorable early moments on Blue Peter was going to Bangladesh, and visiting her extended family who she hadn't seen in a long time. In the show's 2004 'Summer Expedition' to India, Konnie became an extra in a Bollywood film, and practised dancing alongside its stars. For the programme's 2004 'Welcome Home' appeal, she made an emotional visit to Angola on behalf of Blue Peter, in the hope of reuniting children with the families they had been separated from due to war.
Huq briefly co-presented Blue Peter with former boyfriend Richard Bacon, and remained his girlfriend after he was sacked from the show in mid-contract; in August 2006, he announced publicly that the relationship was over.
[edit] Other BBC work
Between 2002 and 2004, Huq co-presented the CBBC Channel's UK Top 40. Recently, was selected to make her debut as a news presenter on the BBC Asian Network, in a series of documentaries on a new radio current affairs programme called the Asian Network Report.
[edit] Comic Relief
In 2005, she took part in BBC1's reality TV show Comic Relief does Fame Academy, in aid of Comic Relief, and was the third contestant to be voted off. She also travelled to Uganda and met orphan children, on behalf of Comic Relief, and is currently a celebrity ambassador for the British Red Cross.
[edit] The Tube
On 3 November 2006, Huq became one of the presenters of The Tube on Channel 4 Radio.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.skiddle.com/nightlife/articles/the-tube-is-back--on-channel-4-radio--_311006.php Tube returns on Channel 4 Radio
[edit] External links
- Konnie Huq on Imdb
- Unofficial site on Konnie Huq
- Asians in Media article on new Asian Network Report
| Preceded by: Romana D'Annunzio |
Blue Peter Presenter No. 26 1997-2007 |
Succeeded by: TBA |
