Nihal Arthanayake (born 1 June 1971) is a British radio and TV presenter.

Early life

Nihal Arthanayake was born on 1 June 1971, to

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Sri Lankan parents. Nihal began his involvement in the music industry as a promoter of rap shows in his native Essex,Nihal Arthanayake – Musician, Broadcaster and DJ
British Council while he was studying at Burnt Mill School, in

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Music career

Performing

Nihal began a career as a rap recording artist performing as 'MC Krayzee A'. In 1988 he released the track 'Into The Music' on the British Hip Hop compilation 'Hard Core One' on BPM Records. In 1995, Nihal was a member of the group 'The Muddie Funksters' and released the 4-track EP 'Brown Like Muddie' on

Go! Discs Records Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...

and the 7" flexi disc single 'I'm The M The B The S The T' for

Hip Hop Connection ''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the most important magazine in the world". History Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the m ...

Magazine. He was also briefly a member of

alternative hip hop Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

outfit

Collapsed Lung A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by ...

and worked with Fun Da Mental and

Punjabi MC Rajinder Singh Rai (born February 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Panjabi MC, is an English recording artist, rapper, record producer and DJ. He is best known for the worldwide Bhangra 2002 hit " Mundian To Bach Ke", which sold 10 m ...

Badmarsh & Shri Badmarsh & Shri are an English electronic dance music duo from London. The pair consists of DJ Mohammed Akber Ali, aka Badmarsh, who was born in Yemen, and tabla player Shrikanth Sriram, aka Shri, who is from India. They have released two albu ...

Mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Sona Family Sona Family is a London-based musical quartet. They have been said to sound "like The Black Eyed Peas infused with traditional Indian bhangra music". They combine urban music, hip hop, R&B and dancehall with their own upbringing as UK Desis. Heade ...

and DJ Sanj.

Promotion

In the late 1990s Arthanayake turned to music promotion working for artists as diverse as

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...

Judge Jules Julius O'Riordan (born 26 October 1965), better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. He is known for his DJ activities, music production and long-running radio show which ac ...

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Nihal Arthanayake: How the multi-talented DJ rising to the top of mainstream radio
The Independent, 14 January 2008 and it was while working for the groundbreaking Asian Beats record label Outcaste Records he promoted, amongst others

's ''Signs'' album.

Writing

Arthanayake has worked as a freelance music journalist, writing for ''Asiana'', ''

Eastern Eye The ''Eastern Eye'' is a British weekly newspaper, published every Friday. It was created in 1989 and was first published by ''The Guardian'', before becoming a standalone newspaper. History Sarwar Ahmed founded the ''Eastern Eye'' from hi ...

'', '' The Face'', ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'', ''

'', ''Attitude'', ''Bear'' magazine, ''Cage And Aviary Birds'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''.

Radio career

Arthanayake joined BBC Radio 1 in 2002, to become co-host of a night time ''Asian Beats'' show with DJ

Bobby Friction Paramdeep Sehdev () (born 21 August 1971) better known as Bobby Friction, is a DJ, television presenter and radio presenter. Early life After studying Contemporary Arts at Nottingham Trent University, Friction's career as a DJ started in 1997 ...

coming under the specialist DJ category. The show won a

Sony Radio Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

in 2003 – achieving Gold standard in the Specialist Music Category for their show ''Bobby Friction & Nihal Present''. At the end of 2004, they released a compilation album as a reflection of the music they play on the show. After an initial high-profile start, the show was rescheduled to the early morning 'graveyard' hours. Eventually Bobby Friction left the show, leaving the title as "Asian Beats with Nihal". In October 2007 Arthanayake became the presenter of the Weekend Breakfast Show on Radio 1; he was one of only two DJs to present both a mainstream and a specialist show on the channel, the other being

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

. He also provided holiday cover for Radio 1 colleagues. In September 2008 he was moved from weekend breakfast to weekend afternoons 13.00-16.00 on Radio 1. On 21 September 2009, Arthanayake was moved from weekends to a brand-new review programme, named ''BBC Radio 1's Review With Nihal''. The weekly show reviews the latest music. He also became the sole presenter of the specialist Radio 1 ''Asian Beats'' show after Bobby Friction left. In May 2007, Arthanayake left ''Kicking Off...'' to become the host of the daily phone-in talk show from 09.00 to 12.00 on the Asian Network. In April 2009 his show moved to 13.00-15.00 as part of schedule changes. In late 2012 the show moved to 10.00-13.00. In 2010, he won "Best Radio Show" at the

UK Asian Music Awards The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast by B4U Music since 2008. Awards winners were dec ...

(UK AMAs) for his show on Radio 1, and a Sony Award for Best Speech Programme for his Asian Network show. In June 2014, it was announced that in September 2014, Arthanayake would leave BBC Radio 1. Until September 2016 Arthanayake had his own discussion programme concerned with societal and political topics at BBC Radio A (Asian Network) Channel
Nihal. Discussion and debate on the big issues.
In September 2016 Nihal joined

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

co-hosting the "Afternoon Edition" show with

Sarah Brett Sarah Jane Brett (born 1974) is an Irish radio presenter, who broadcasts on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster, breakfast show. Early life Brett was born in Northampton. Her parents moved to Portnoo, a village beside Narin, County Donegal, ...

. After Sarah Brett left the show it was renamed ''Nihal Arthanayake;'' it was broadcast Monday-Thursday 1pm-4pm. He left the weekday afternoon show in June 2024, and now hosts two interviews on Sunday evenings in a slot called Headliners with Nihal Arthanayake, which is also available as a podcast. He also occasionally presents Loose Ends on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Television

Arthanayake's TV appearances began in 1999 alongside

Emma B Emma Louise Boughton (born 27 November 1970), better known as Emma B, is a radio presenter in the UK. Early career Boughton's childhood was spent in Canada before she moved to Birmingham, England as a teenager. She graduated from the Univer ...

on BBC2's ''Webwise''.Nihal's Biography
BBC Radio One He also hosted his own rap show ''The Drop'' on MTV Base, and three hours of live TV every Saturday for digital television channel

CBBC CBBC 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 brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

entitled ''

The Saturday Show ''The Saturday Show'' can refer to: Radio *The Saturday Show (Radio Sweden), ''The Saturday Show'' (Radio Sweden), a program broadcast on Radio Sweden 1967–1981 *Amazing Radio, ''The Saturday Show'' (Amazing Radio), a weekly radio show broadcas ...

: Extra''. Arthanayake co-presented three series of

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

Asian music Asian music encompass numerous musical styles, traditions, and forms originating in Asian countries. Asian music traditions include: * ** Music of China ** Music of Hong Kong ** Music of Japan ** Traditional music of Korea *** Music of Nor ...

arts and culture show – ''

Desi DNA ''Desi DNA'' was a British television show on the BBC covering ''Desi'' (North Indian) art, culture and entertainment that launched in 2003. In 2004, ''Desi DNA'' received the Best Lifestyle Programme award from the Royal Television Society. T ...

'' alongside

Adil Ray Adil Ray (, born 26 April 1974) is a British actor, comedian and radio/television presenter. Ray is best known as the creator, co-writer and star of the long-running BBC One scripted comedy series ''Citizen Khan'' (2012–2016)'','' and as a p ...

and

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is a British radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Heaton, West Yorkshire, Heaton and Odsal. Her parents were ...

since 2004 and he interviewed

Karsh Kale Karsh Kale (pronounced ''Kursh Kah-lay'', ''कर्ष काळे'' in Marathi; born 1 November 1974) is an Indian-American musician born in England. Known primarily for his experimental tabla playing within electronic music contexts, Kale ...

Padma Lakshmi Padma Parvati Lakshmi (; née Vaidynathan; born September 1, 1970) is an American television host, model, author, businesswoman, and activist. She rose to prominence by hosting the Bravo cooking competition program '' Top Chef'' (2006–2023). ...

, Nerm, Outlandish and DJ Pathaan, as well as presenting special features on

Jay Sean Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (born 26 March 1981), known professionally as Jay Sean, is a British singer and songwriter. He debuted in the UK's Asian Underground scene as a member of the Rishi Rich Project with " Dance with You", which reached No. ...

, Ms Scandalous and Freeform Five. In November 2004, he presented

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary ''Where's Your F*****G Manners?''Why are you all so f*****g rude?
The Observer, 14 November 2004 In August 2005, he appeared on BBC2's ''Art School'', alongside

Ulrika Jonsson Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, and moved on to present the ITV show '' Gladiators'', and later featured as a team captain on the BBC T ...

and Keith Allen, spending two weeks at the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...

and learn about modern art. In 2010, Nihal appeared on BBC2's ''

Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as ''MasterChef Goes Large' ...

'', but did not get past the first round, after cooking a Thai chicken curry on rosti for the Invention Test. With inside knowledge of the music industry he has contributed commentary on various music and culture-related topics on programmes ranging from the BRIT Awards, ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

'' and Channel 5's ''

The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

'', to MTV Base's ''Hip Hop Candy'', and has appeared as a guest panellist on music comedy quiz ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'' and on BBC Four's '' We Need Answers''. In March 2021, Nihal appeared on ''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show hosted by Richard Osman and produced by Banijay UK Productions subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC. The show is played on a weekly basis, with four celebrities playing on f ...

'' on the BBC. In July/August 2021, he was part of the BBC’s coverage team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, broadcasting a nightly highlights show with

Jeanette Kwakye Jeanette Boahemaa Kwakye ( ; born 20 March 1983) is a British broadcaster and retired sprinter. Athletics career Kwakye won a bronze medal in the 4x100 metres relay at the 2002 World Junior Championships, with teammates Jade Lucas-Read, ...

and short explainers from Tokyo about how some of the less well-known sports work.

Club promotion

Following the success of the Radio 1 show, Arthanayake launched his own club night called ''Bombay Bronx'' in May 2004 as an opportunity to showcase his love of rap music – but with a distinctly Asian perspective. Since its creation, Bombay Bronx has seen some of the biggest artists on the 'Asian Beats' scene perform live, such as

Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

Raghav Raghav Mathur (born April 2, 1981), known professionally as Raghav, is a Canadian singer. He has released three studio albums: the debut '' Storyteller'' in 2004, '' Identity'' in 2009, and '' The Phoenix'' in 2012. His most known commercial suc ...

, Belgian Ben, Skiddy McGee and Mentor Kolektiv, as well as giving a platform for unsigned artists such as Sunit, Raxtstar and Serese. As well as DJ-ing at a variety of events up and down the country, Nihal has DJ-ed the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

and

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festi ...

in the UK. Internationally, he has performed in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and toured the U.S. with

and

Other projects

In 2005, Nihal and former colleague Bobby Friction represented London as members of a team of cultural ambassadors during the successful

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London bid. He is the voiceover for the ''

Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...

'' album. Nihal also appeared on the BBC Radio 5 Live show ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11.00 and 12.00 and is currently presented by Rick Edwards. This show is ...

'' on 1 May 2010 alongside Tom Watt,

John Rawling John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field and darts commentator currently working for ITV and Talksport. As lead boxing commentator for TalkSport, John works alongside former European super-bantamweight champion Spencer Oliver. John has ...

and

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows, including '' Woul ...

. Here he showed his support for north London football club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Additionally, Nihal was responsible for the music accompanying the London New Year's Eve fireworks display for 2011 and 2012.

Comments on BBC diversity

In November 2023, while speaking at a journalism diversity conference in UK, Arthanayake stated that working within an "overwhelmingly white" environment at the BBC depressed him and affected his mental health due to the lack of diversity. He went on to say "It’s really affecting me that I walk in and all I see is white people".

Personal life

Arthanayake used to live in the

Dollis Hill Dollis Hill is an area in northwest London, which consists of the streets surrounding the Gladstone Park, London, Gladstone Park. It is served by a London Underground station, Dollis Hill tube station, Dollis Hill, on the Jubilee line, providi ...

area of London. He moved to

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

in 2016 when he joined BBC Five Live. He lives there with his wife Eesha, and their two children, one son and one daughter. He has a BA (2:1) from

St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its stated commitment is to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. History Originally foun ...

in History and English Literature and in 2023 was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Communications. Arthanayake is a fan of

References

External links

''Headliners with Nihal Arthanayake''
(BBC Radio 5 Live) *
Nihal's Exclusive Interview
Destitunes4U
Keeping the BBC Asian Network national
guardian.co.uk, 3 March 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arthanayake, Nihal Living people 1971 births 2012 Summer Olympics cultural ambassadors Alumni of the Open University Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham BBC Asian Network presenters BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters BBC Radio 5 Live presenters British radio DJs English Buddhists English people of Sri Lankan descent English television presenters People from Harlow Television personalities from Essex