Janet Ellis
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| Janet Ellis | |
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| Born | 16 September 1955 Kent, England |
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| Occupation | TV presenter and actress |
| Known for | Blue Peter presenter |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Sophie Ellis-Bextor (daughter) |
Janet Ellis (born 16 September 1955) is a television presenter and former actress, who appeared on BBC children's television during the 1980s. She is perhaps best remembered as a presenter on Blue Peter, a role she won after hosting the award-winning children's programme Jigsaw. She has three children, the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor (born 1979), Jackson Ellis Leach (born 1987) and Martha-Rose Ellis Leach (born 1991).
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[edit] Early life
Ellis was educated at Richmond County School for Girls.[citation needed] Her first television appearance was a bit part in The Sweeney. Her big break came in 1979, when she played Teka in the Doctor Who story The Horns of Nimon.
[edit] Blue Peter years
Ellis joined Blue Peter on 28 April 1983, and during her four-year stint, co-presented with Simon Groom, Sarah Greene, Peter Duncan, Michael Sundin, Mark Curry and Caron Keating. She immediately become a hit with the teen and pre-teen viewership.
During her tenure on Jigsaw and Blue Peter, Ellis was particularly popular with male viewers, She is regularly cited by viewers as the most attractive children's TV presenter of her era.[citation needed] Referring to an episode of Jigsaw, comedian Richard Herring observes that "many men of my age have very similar memories of the awakening of their sexual desire thanks to the rather low cut dress that Janet Ellis was wearing".[1]
[edit] Personal life
When Ellis left Blue Peter on 20 June 1987 to have her second child, Jackson, there were rumours that she had been sacked because she wasn't married to the father:
Nobody was thinking it was a scandal that I hadn’t married. In fact I announced my pregnancy in January and carried on presenting Blue Peter — with an ever-widening girth — until June. The bump was clear for everyone to see. It’s just a shame that the myth has been perpetuated for so long.
—Janet Ellis, The Sunday Times (November 2004)
The programme's producer Biddy Baxter has also denied that Ellis left the programme because she was unmarried.[2]
On 31 August 2007, Ellis was a special guest in an episode of the live television programme Doctor, Doctor broadcast on channel Five, in which she talked about her hypothyroidism with the presenter and general practitioner, Mark Porter. On live television Ellis explained that she suffered loss of energy and was not feeling right, and that she eventually had medical tests because she had several miscarriages whilst trying for a fourth child. She reported that the tests unexpectedly diagnosed hypothyroidism and so she was started on thyroxine tablets, which made her feel a lot better after a few days. Ellis said that it was not until she was well that she realised retrospectively how ill she had been.
It was revealed that Ellis had a total of ten miscarriages:
Whatever John and I might have decided, nature intervened and after that final, tenth miscarriage, I didn't fall pregnant again.
—Janet Ellis, The Daily Mail (January 2008)
[edit] Later years
Ellis went on to present Open Air for the BBC, and has since presented a huge range of programmes on topics such as gardens, cars, holidays, cookery and childcare. She is a frequent contributor to children's charity Scene & Heard.
She is the author of How To Get Married Without Divorcing Your Family with Caron Keating, and presented the 2005 series of The Great Garden Challenge for Channel 4. She is also a regular panelist on Five's The Wright Stuff.
[edit] Just the Two of Us
In January 2007 Ellis appeared on the BBC reality singing show Just the Two of Us partnered with Alexander O'Neal. Despite being 'saved' by Stewart Copeland on the previous night, she left the show in acrimony on 4th January 2007, after judge CeCe Sammy described her as having the vocal characteristics of "a cat on speed". Ellis managed to show good humour in the face of the defeat, stating that she had had "fun, a lot of fun".[3]
| Preceded by Sarah Greene |
Blue Peter Presenter No. 13 1983-87 |
Succeeded by Yvette Fielding |
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Friday 5th December 2003 | Warming Up | RichardHerring.com
- ^ Interview with Mark Lawson, BBC 4, 1 June 2007
- ^ BBC - Just The Two Of Us - Show Two Result
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ellis, Janet |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | TV presenter and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 16 September 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kent, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
