Stuart Miles give up Blue Peter in 2000 after hitting out on the TV sequence for being ‘out of contact’ with its younger BBC viewers – however over twenty years on, the presenter seems to be fairly completely different

A former Blue Peter star seems to be fully unrecognisable, twenty years after quitting the present.

Stuart Miles famously walked away from Blue Peter, criticising the TV sequence for being “out of contact” with its younger BBC viewers. This got here simply three months after his good friend and co-presenter Richard Bacon was dismissed for cocaine use, and Stuart argued that youngsters had misplaced curiosity in arts and crafts and pet segments.

“With the yr 2000 almost right here we have to make Blue Peter extra related to modern-thinking youngsters,” he acknowledged, “much less twee, extra hard-hitting. I do know it is like a consolation blanket for lots of people, a programme that may by no means shock or offend you, however we err on the aspect of warning.”

At 27 years previous, Stuart was, at that time, Blue Peter’s longest-serving presenter. His departure dealt a big blow to the company, which was already grappling with the fallout from Richard Bacon’s drug scandal and his subsequent substitute on the present.

Nonetheless, 26 years after leaving the present, Stuart’s profession exhibits no signal of stopping. He has since gone on to host a wide range of main exhibits each on and off-screen.

He went on to guest-present programmes equivalent to This Morning and Vacation, and likewise grew to become a daily on Sky Vegas, an interactive TV playing channel. He later hosted a breakfast present for Coronary heart alongside his former co-star, Katy Hill, stories the Mirror.

In 2008, he debuted a drag present on the Edinburgh Fringe Pageant; The Adventures of Pink Peter. Within the present, he dressed up as Vera Singleton and portrayed because the sister of Valerie Singleton, one of many BBC present’s early presenters.

Reflecting on his time on Blue Peter a decade later, Stuart expressed remorse over not popping out as homosexual throughout his stint on the present. In an interview with Metro, he confessed: “I solely have one remorse and that’s I spent numerous my time on the present feeling conflicted about my sexuality.

“I used to be afraid of the response I could get each within the press and from the mother and father of youngsters who watched the present if I got here out as a homosexual man.” He added: “This will appear daft to somebody rising up homosexual in 2018 however it’s simple to overlook how, as little as 20 years in the past, we had been in a really completely different place.”

Now aged 56, Stuart is nearly unrecognisable from his Blue Peter days and has launched into a brand new profession path as knowledgeable speaker for Nice British Audio system.

In current developments, Blue Peter, now 66 years previous, underwent a big revamp, transitioning from its iconic reside broadcasts to pre-recorded exhibits. Final yr, former presenters Anthea Turner and Janet Ellis spearheaded an effort to rescue the present when it was put out to tender.

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