Radzi Chinyanganya (born 12 September 1987) is a British presenter, formerly of the BBC children's TV programme Blue Peter, from 2013 until 2019, and a co-presenter for the ITV game show Cannonball since 2017. Previously he presented Wild on CBBC and was also the host of Match of the Day Kickabout from 2013 until 2014, when Ben Shires took over. In October 2018, it was announced that Radzi will be working for American professional wrestling company WWE for their NXT UK brand, as a backstage interviewer.
Early life[]
Chinyanganya was born and raised in Wolverhampton to a Scottish mother and a Zimbabwean father. He attended Adams' Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire. A graduate of Loughborough University, he worked on Loughborough University's TV and radio station while a student.
Career[]
Sports hosting[]
At a screen test in The O2 Arena, he was selected as the official weightlifting presenter at the London 2012 Olympics. He hosted the weightlifting tournament, spoke on stage at the Excel Arena, interviewed athletes, introduced the weight categories and entertained the crowd. He was invited back to present the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He is also a presenter with the BBC coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Television[]
Chinyanganya presented Your Body: Your Image for BBC Two, an educational series about body image in schools. He co-presented Wild on CBBC with Naomi Wilkinson and Tim Warwood which first aired in 2013. In October 2013, he became the 37th presenter of Blue Peter after being announced following the departure of Helen Skelton. He is also a reporter and presenter of CBBC's Match of the Day Kickabout.
In 2017, Chinyanganya became a co-presenter for the ITV game show, Cannonball along with Freddie Flintoff, Frankie Bridge, Ryan Hand and Maya Jama.
In 2019, CBBC announced that Chinyanganya will be leaving Blue Peter after presenting the show for five and a half years. His last edition was on 18 April that year.
Other work[]
He was a contestant in Sky One's Gladiators in 2008 and reached the semi finals and was the only contestant in history to attempt the eliminator wearing a swimming cap. He was selected to attend Kiss FM's Presenter Academy, and spent the whole summer online reporting for Bauer Media radio station. In this role he interviewed artists and the public and sampled Olympic entertainment in London.
He has a cameo as Mi in Kung Fu Panda 3.
He is also a backstage interviewer for WWE's NXT UK brand.
He also the Sky Sports NBA presenter.
Personal life[]
He is passionate about sport, competing in karate, trained with Sensei Stennett Harvey from CEWKA, at a national level and achieved a top ten finish at the 2011 GB Skeleton Bobsleigh Trials and even appearing on screen in the front row of the audience for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. He is also a Catholic and holds a strong belief in the Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ's resurrection.
External links[]
- Sochi 2014: Blue Peter's Radzi Chinyanganya on the skeleton
- Pyeongchang 2018: Winter Olympics 2018 on the BBC
- Radzi Chinyanganya at the Internet Movie Database