Tough love taught me to rise above the hate
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LIKE Emma Willis and Dermot O’Leary, AJ Odudu is the latest TV presenter who does the spin-off shows but is waiting in the wings to take the main job.
She co-presented Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and last year took the job as digital backstage reporter for The Voice Kids.
The Blackburn-born host, DJ and fitness blogger, 32, is back for the current series bantering with Pixie Lott, Will.i.am, Danny Jones and Paloma Faith and presenter Emma Willis.
The first few episodes were recorded before lockdown but the crew have reunited for the live semi-finals and final.
AJ said: “I’m superexcited to be back. This is such a feel-good show. The children are so talented and it’s a great uplifting atmosphere, which is just what we need at the moment.”
Time away gave her a chance to evaluate her journey – it hasn’t been easy for the girl who has experienced racism since childhood but tenaciously clung to her TV dreams. “I’m ready for the ‘new normal’ but I don’t want to go back to whatever the past was, actually,” she said, reflecting on lockdown restrictions easing and the impact of the anti-racism movement. “I’m fully embracing the changes that are happening. It’s been an explosive year but one that was very necessary. Certainly, the voices of Black Lives Matter have been amplified and that’s a positive thing and long may it continue.” While she has many happy memories of growing up – her parents are Nigerian and she has seven siblings – incidents of racial taunting and bullying are still painful to recall and were brought into sharp focus by recent events. AJ, who got her first big break on Big Brother’s Bit on the Side in 2013, said of her early experiences: “Essentially, you don’t deal with it, you just learn how to cope with it. But my parents really instilled in me some tough love, for sure. I was always encouraged to really root myself.” She was inspired by her mum, who “had a tough childhood in Nigeria, including severe poverty and a civil war, so she was able to put namecalling in perspective. She used to dry my tears and say, ‘People saying things about your Blackness and African-ness, that’s their problem’. “I’m filled with gratitude that I’ve had my family supporting me and teaching me to rise above hate.” It’s motivated and emboldened her. She said: “I’ve never been shy of putting myself forward to vocalise my opinions, because I’ve experienced a life where, even when you’re being quiet or not doing anything to attract abuse or trouble, it still comes your way. I’ve felt I’ve had nothing to lose by putting myself forward and everything to gain.” Despite her role on Big Brother’s Bit on the Side coming to an end, AJ bounced back with The Voice Kids gig. She qualified as a personal trainer, created her own website and blog and recently bought her own home. AJ added: “It’s an irony that when I was younger, I was always being told I was too loud, too opinionated, too bold and confident – and those are the bits that people remember about me and feel empowered by.”