Memnos Costi (born 14 August 1976) is an English television presenter and football player who is deaf. He is a presenter on the deaf magazine programme '' See Hear''.

Biography

Personal life

Costi was born in England to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Cypriot parents, and grew up in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

. He has been deaf since birth. Costi went to Sir Winston Churchill School for the Deaf until the age of 15. At this time he moved to Burwood Park School for the Deaf where he remained until he was 16 years old. His brother is fellow footballer Marios Costi. He currently lives in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

with his wife and two daughters.

Career

Football

In 2002, Costi was a member of the Great Britain squad for deaf football. From 10 to 23 June 2007, Costi, along with his brother, represented Cyprus in the European Deaf Championship.

Acting and presenting

At the age of 12, Costi appeared at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. At 16 he began his television career on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' See Hear'', where he has remained ever since. In 2002, Costi and Semhar Beyene were approached by producer Andrew Stibbs to take part in a project which involved creating a BSL interpretation of the famous classic '' Somethin' Stupid''. In 2013, Costi and his eldest daughter appeared in the BBC drama 'Holby City'. Costi played a deaf single father about to undergo a heart operation, and his daughter portrayed an interpreter who did not tell her father the full risks of his surgery. In 2018, Costi was one of the seven BSL translators for the Stand Up To Cancer UK telethon on 4seven.

References

External links

''See Hear''
1976 births Living people BSL users English deaf people English people of Greek Cypriot descent English television presenters Footballers from the London Borough of Haringey People from Tottenham Players of deaf football {{UK-tv-bio-stub