Mwaksy Mudenda | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mudenda in 2022 | |
| Born | December 19, 1994 London, England |
| Occupation | Television presenter |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Known for | Blue Peter Becoming Xtraordinary |
Mwaka "Mwaksy" Mudenda (born 19 December 1994) is a British television presenter from South London. She is best known for being the 39th presenter of Blue Peter, a programme she presented between 2020 and 2023, and has also presented Becoming Xtraordinary.
Mudenda was born in South London on 19 December 1994[1] to a Zambian family,[2] and started YouTubing under the name Mwaksy in 2014,[3] later moving to Manchester to study anthropology at university.[2] In 2018, after graduating, she got a job at MediaCityUK as an assistant producer for BBC Sport,[4] where her job entailed making sports content relatable for younger audiences and filming videos for Instagram;[5] one of these, her "Bust Down with Mwaksy", brought her to the attention of BBC Children's and Education,[6] who invited her for a screen test.[5]
In May 2020, Mudenda was announced as the 39th presenter of Blue Peter, a CBBC show; her first episodes were presented at home due to the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.[2] While on the program, she, former Blue Peter presenter Sarah Greene, and numerous pupils from Wormholt Park primary school opened a 42-year old Blue Peter Time Capsule recovered from White City in 2022,[7] and later produced language learning lessons in French,[8] Spanish,[9] and science.[10] She later departed Blue Peter in September 2023, the third presenter to leave the program in 14 months,[11] prompting suggestions that the program could be cancelled after 65 years.[12] After a period with Lauren Layfield as guest host,[13] she was replaced full-time in January 2024 by TikToker Shini Muthukrishnan.[14]
In 2023, it was announced that Mudenda would co-host Becoming Xtraordinary for Da Vinci, a streaming service, with Evan Edinger and Bear Grylls, during which she interviewed several celebrities including Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Courteney Cox, Channing Tatum, and Olympic gold medallists and Nobel laureates.[15] She has also appeared as a contestant on Crackerjack!,[16] Celebrity Mastermind,[17] Celebrity Catchpoint,[18] Celebrity Bridge of Lies,[19] Celebrity Catchphrase,[20] and Pointless Celebrities.[21]