I’d like to inspire Black girls to think: ‘If she can do it, I can ’
AJ ODUDU is currently on our screens on ITV’s The Voice Kids, fizzing with characteristic energy and enthusiasm. The Blackburn-born presenter, DJ and fitness blogger, 32, reveals she’s emerged from lockdown ready to celebrate a new era.
“I really feel like I’ve found myself and everything’s coming together,” she declares delightedly, talking about life both on screen and off.
On the work front, she’s thrilled to be chatting with contestants, bantering with judges Pixie Lott, Will.i.am, Danny Jones and Paloma Faith and working alongside Emma Willis again. The first few episodes were recorded before lockdown but the crew have reunited for the live semi-finals and final.
“We’ve all kept in touch via Zoom and Emma, who’s such a wonderful friend, has organised regular fun quizzes for us, but I’m super-excited to be back working. 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,” says AJ.
Time away, though, gave her a chance to evaluate her journey – it hasn’t been easy for the girl who experienced racism since childhood, but tenaciously clung to her TV-career dreams.
“I’m ready for the ‘new normal’ but I don’t want to go back to whatever the past was, actually,” she confides from her home in London as we talk over the phone, reflecting on lockdown restrictions easing and the impact of the anti-racism movement.
“I’m fully embracing the changes. It’s been an explosive year but one that was necessary,” AJ adds. “The voices of Black Lives Matter have been amplified and that’s positive, and long may it continue.”
While she has many happy childhood memories– her parents are Nigerian and she has seven siblings – incidents of racial taunting and bullying are still painful to recall, and were brought back into sharp focus by recent events.
AJ, who’s as warm and engaging off screen as on, and got her first big break on Big Brother’s Bit On The
Side back in 2013, says of her early experiences: “Essentially, you don’t deal with it, you just learn how to cope. But my parents really instilled in me some tough love, for sure. They gave me the determination to meet negativity with positivity.
“Not that I wasn’t allowed to get upset by things as a child, but I was always encouraged to really root myself in a strong sense of self and not to believe all the nasty things people were saying,” she explains.
She took inspiration from her mother, who had a tough childhood in Nigeria, including severe poverty and a civil war. “She was able to put name-calling in perspective. She used to dry my tears and say, ‘People saying things about your Blackness and African-ness, that’s their problem not yours’.
“I’m glad I was taught that from such a young age, and am filled with gratitude that I’ve had my family supporting me and teaching me to rise above hate.”
It helped motivate and embolden her, she acknowledges. “I’ve never been shy of putting myself forward to use my voice and 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,” she explains.
“So I’ve felt I’ve had nothing to lose by putting myself forward, and everything to gain.”
She’s no stranger to our screens, also appearing on the likes of Lorraine, Loose Women and Celebrity Come Dine With Me. Last year, she got to the final of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
But AJ had to call on that inner resilience when, while on Big Brother’s Bit On The Side, she was mocked on social media for her Northern accent, which trolls claimed didn’t ‘match”’ with her being a Black woman. She concedes it was difficult at the time but now she just deletes comments like that.
Her passion for wellbeing and fitness helped her carve a new path when her role on the show ended after two series.
“It was a huge blow, and I broke up with my boyfriend at the same time,” she recalls. “I thought I was going to have a breakdown, I was so low. But it turned out to be a wakeup call, and showed me things don’t always turn out the way you want and you have to deal with it. I try to live in the moment much more now.”
AJ qualified as a personal trainer, created a fitness, music and fashion website and blog, and recently bought her own home.
Fitness (she runs around 5km and does 15 minutes skipping daily and has done triathlons) and listening to music are her key ‘wellbeing tools’, which helped in lockdown.
“I was determined to get something out of the time and hopefully I’ve come out more wellrounded, with a better relationship with work and play,” she says.
“A little lockdown romance would have been lovely but when I’m back dating, I’m going to snog everyone! life’s too short, we might be locked away again soon, so let’s go for it!” she jokes, roaring with laughter.
“But I tell you what, this period where I’ve lasted independently – I’ve taken up cooking and done DIY – has meant my high standards for men have been raised! Unless a guy is the full package sense of humour and quietly confident so I can flourish, and he’s not intimidated by me – then I’m happy on my own.”
While her own confidence, is a work in progress which she says ebbs and flows, she feels her achievements prove it’s “been worth the pain, all of the tears, and all of the struggles. I’d like to inspire Black girls to think: ‘If she can do it, I can’.
“I really just hope people feel able to achieve because of society, and not in spite of it, and I hope it’s not so much of a battle as it was for me,” says AJ. “My motto is never let anyone dull your shine...”
It’s been a quite a year, but as DJ and TV presenter AJ Odudu tells GABRIELLE FAGAN , she’s ready to embrace the ‘new normal’