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Adedoyin Olayiwola "Ade" Adepitan (born 27 March 1973) is a Nigerian-born British television presenter and

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

player. As a presenter, he has hosted a range of travel documentaries and sports programmes for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

television. Adepitan is an award-winning disability advocate and one of the first physically disabled television presenters in the UK, with a career that spans 21 years. Adepitan was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. As an infant, he contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

, resulting in damage to his legs that left him a wheelchair user. At the age of three, he moved with his family to the United Kingdom, where he grew up in East London. Becoming a wheelchair basketball player, he was part of the British team that played at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympi ...

, securing a bronze medal. Involved in a range of charities promoting access to sport for disabled people, in 2005 was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for services to disability sport. During the 2000s, Adepitan began appearing on British television. His early appearances included as an actor in the shows ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and '' Desperados''. He also moved into presenting, initially primarily for sports programmes during the 2000s. From the 2010s, he increasingly appeared on travel documentaries, initially for episodes of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

series '' Unreported World'' and then for the BBC series ''Africa with Ade Adepitan'' (2019) and ''Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline'' (2021). In 2021, he was chosen to present

open-access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

meetings of an unaffiliated scientific group set up to report to the public on the changing state of the global environment, following in the footsteps of Independent SAGE.

Early life

Adepitan was born in the Maryland district in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. At the age of fifteen months, Adepitan contracted

which resulted in the loss of function of his legs, and ultimately prevented him from walking. At the age of three, Adepitan and his mother migrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to join his father; who lived in the London Borough of Newham. He was educated at Southern Road Primary School in Plaistow which he credits with helping him with his disability and problems at home. From an early age, he had aspirations of becoming an international sportsman. He also attended Lister Community School.

Basketball career

Adepitan is an accomplished

player, for his club Milton Keynes Aces and as a member of Great Britain team that won the bronze medal at the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and the gold medal at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Television and media career

Adepitan has featured on many television programmes and series as an actor, presenter or guest, particularly for the

...
. He often uses television as a platform to campaign against racism and disability discrimination. He was one of three wheelchair basketball players featured in the 2002 BBC One ident ''Hip-Hop''. He was one of the main presenters of the children's programme ''

Xchange XChange or X-Change may refer to: * XChange (film), ''XChange'' (film), a 2000 Canadian science fiction film * Xchange (TV series), ''Xchange'' (TV series), was a BBC Children's television programme * X-Change, a Chinese spin-off from Wife Swap (UK ...

'' produced for

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

and has appeared in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' EastEnders''. He starred as wheelchair basketball coach, "Baggy Awolowo", in the TV series '' Desperados''. In 2005, Adepitan participated in '' Beyond Boundaries'' which was a four-part documentary in which Adepitan trekked through rainforests, deserts, rivers and mountains in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

and made his own video diary filmed in London and Spain, talking about his sporting aspirations and how he coped as a London boy living in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

unable to speak any Spanish. Adepitan has become increasingly involved in making documentaries for Channel 4; he was appointed as one of the main presenters on

of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and co-presents ''That Paralympic Show'' with

Rick Edwards Richard Philip "Rick" Edwards (born 20 May 1979) is an English television presenter, journalist, and author. Edwards presented T4 for four years, and has also presented ''Tool Academy'', '' Freshly Squeezed'', ''E4 Music'', and much of Channe ...

. and in 2013, he presented a

'' Dispatches'' programme, ''Britain on Benefits'', as well as a documentary for Channel 4's '' Unreported World'' about Cuban basketball players, ''Cuba, Basketball and Betrayal''. He was also part of the Channel 4 2014

Winter Paralympic Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. ...

and the Rio 2016 Paralympics presenting team alongside Clare Balding. Adepitan has also worked with the BBC, having presented the

Invictus Games The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The word 'Invictus' means 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of the fighting spi ...

, guest-presenting an episode of ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' alongside

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

. In 2016, Adepitan co-presented three-part BBC Two series ''New York: America's Busiest City'' alongside

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is an English radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. In an episode of ...

and Ant Anstead. Since 2016, Adepitan has co-presented the BBC's '' Children in Need'' appeal. In 2017 he co-presented ''World's Busiest Cities'' with Anita Rani and Dan Snow. In 2019, Adepitan presented a new four-part series for BBC Two ''Africa with Ade Adepitan'', traveling across Africa, from West Africa and city of his birth - Lagos in Nigeria - through Central and Eastern Africa and on to the deep south of the continent. In 2021 he was one of the BBC presenters for the ''

Global Citizen Festival The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music festival started in 2012 and organized by Global Poverty Project. It was founded by Ryan Gall and Hugh Evans. Gall said he was inspired by visiting Austin City Limits and seeing the branding on the ...

'', a panelist with the BBC game show ''

Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which started in 1979 and is still running today, albeit with some sizeable gaps. The original series ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC1, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 un ...

'' and celebrity contestant of '' Catchphrase'' on 30 October, competing against his ''Paralympics'' co-presenter Clare Balding.

Charity works

Adepitan does a lot of charity work, particularly supporting many charities to help other people with physical disabilities. He is a patron of Go Kids Go (formerly known as Association of Wheelchair Children). He is also a great supporter of the National Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Children Charity (

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

) and the WheelPower Charity. Adepitan travelled to Ghana in support of

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

. He also participated in the

Disabled Motoring UK Disabled Motoring UK is a non-governmental organization founded in the UK in 1922 and was recently known as Mobilise. It is a campaigning charity for disabled drivers, passengers, and blue badge holders in the United Kingdom. Disabled Motoring UK ...

Alps 2011 Challenge. Adepitan is also an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, the world's leading sport for development charity.

Awards

Adepitan was made a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for services to disability sport in 2005. He was also presented with an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from Loughborough University, in recognition of his outstanding services to, and performances in, disability sport. The same year, Adepitan was awarded a 'Certificate of Excellence' by the Champions Club UK in recognition not only of his efforts at promoting disability sport, but also for being a positive role model. He was particularly commended for his strong and persistent message of hope within the young black disabled community. He was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award by the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

in 2010, and had an Honorary Doctorate conferred by the university in November 2010. In 2020, Adepitan was included in the

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

of the 100 most influential Black British people.

Personal life

On 19 August 2018, Adepitan married Scottish singer Linda Harrison (who performs as Elle Exxe) in St Paul's Cathedral. They have a son, born 4 January 2021.

References

External links

Not just anybody: Ade Adepitan

The Presenters: Ade Adepitan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adepitan, Ade Living people 1973 births English television presenters Television presenters with disabilities Members of the Order of the British Empire Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic Games broadcasters Paralympic wheelchair basketball players of Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball