Noughties CBBC presenters now – 'topless' TV stint, co-star marriage and huge tragedy

You may remember them as the familiar faces that used to present some of your favourite shows in the 2000s, from the likes of Blue Peter to Prank Patrol and Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow.

Whether it was a Saturday morning treat or an after school binge, famous CBBC presenters such as Kirsten O’Brien, Matt Baker and Helen Skelton were regular favourites on the hugely popular children’s channel.

The TV stars were loved by millions of children up and down the country as they made their first steps into presenting, and it’s fair to say they did a cracking job of it.

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But have you ever spared a thought as to what some of your favourite CBBC stars are up to more than thirty years on?

After Jake Humphrey shared his spontaneous CBBC reunion at a wedding recently, Daily Star has taken a deep dive into where the beloved stars from the children’s channel are now.

Jake Humphrey

Jake Humphrey first started his career as a TV presenter on CBBC as an assistant host in Against All Odds before he moved on to become a main host of Rule The School in 2001.

He later went on to host CBBC’s coverage of Fame Academy alongside Holly Willoughby as well as present the celebrity edition of Comic Relief in 2003 before he moved on from the channel in 2005.

Since then, the 43-year-old star threw himself into his passion for sport as a sports presenter after he was hired as a match reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live.

It was at this point that the star’s career really took off where he went on to cover many legendary sporting events including the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia, the 2006 Ashes and the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

In more recent years the star has gone on to work with the likes of BT Sport during the 2013 and 2014 football season for their coverage of the Premier League programming.

However in the last month, the dad-of-two has since been dropped from BT Sport’s Premiere League coverage and replaced by Lynsey Hipgrave because he is “too busy”.

Kirsten O’Brien

Kirsten O’Brien has been a mainstay of children’s TV on the BBC for more than 13 years after starting out in the Broom Cupboard with the likes of Phillip Schofield on the silver screen and Otis the Aardvark.

She went on to show off her artistic side after she joined the cast of SMart alongside Mark Speight and Natasha Collins from 1999 to 2009.

But in 2008, Mark’s girlfriend and co-star Natasha was found dead in their West London flat after a night of drinking and taking cocaine which shook the TV show to the core.

Mark struggled with depression following her death and just five days into the inquest into the death of his fiancée, he sadly took his life at Paddington railway station.

Kirsten recently spoke out about the “horrendous” moment she had to report on his passion on an episode of Newsround in the hours after his death hit the headlines.

Since his death, the star created a 2009 documentary for BBC Three titled Kirsten’s Topless Ambition where the starlet debated whether or not to strip off for a modelling gig with a lads mag.

She explained how she faced a huge decision – whether to do what many other female presenters had done before her and take her clothes off for a lads’ mag to try and clinch bigger, better presenting jobs and a more adult audience.

Despite the numerous offers she had, the blonde belle decided against it and went on to appear in a slew of TV competitions including Celebrity MasterChef, Let’s Dance For Sport Relief and Big Brother’s Bit on the Side.

Angellica Bell & Michael Underwood

Angellica Bell worked for CBBC from 2000 to 2006 as the continuity presenter on the show, but the brunette beauty soon went on to present programmes on the channel such as Short Change, That’s Genius, 50/50 and The Saturday Show.

It was during her time on the children’s television show that she met her future husband Michael Underwood back in 1999.

In an interview with Evening Standard, the presenter explained how the she thought the TV hunk was “a bit of a nerd” and not her “sort of person.

She told the publication: “I thought he was a bit of a nerd. I did think he was really sweet though, even if he wasn’t my sort of person. It took about seven years of toing and froing until we realised what we wanted.”

The happy couple have since gone on to tie the knot in the heart of New York in 2010 and now share two children together.

Since then, Angellica has gone on to present The One Show alongside a slew of reality competitions such as taking part in Pointless with Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq.

Arguably one of her biggest achievements since she left children’s TV behind was winning the 2017 series of Celebrity MasterChef where she battled it out against a slew of other celebs – including fellow ex-CBBC presenter Barney Harwood – for the infamous trophy.

Barney Harwood

Beloved TV presenter Barney Harwood first joined CBBC when he presented the children’s gameshow Crush un 2004 which catapulted him to stardom.

He then went on to co-present Smile with Rochelle Wiseman which aired every Sunday on BBC Two until 2007 which saw him grab Children’s BAFTA for best presenter.

The TV hunk went on to star in a 26-part sitcom Bear Behaving Badly which hit the airwaves back in 2007 with Nev the Bear from Smile.

After the series had ran its course, the TV star announced he would be the latest presenter joining the Blue Peter team in 2010.

He became one of the show’s longest serving presenters after co-hosting the show for 6 and a half years.

In 2017, Barney announced his exit from the show where he received a Blue Peter Gold badge – the highest accolade on the show – for all his hard work on the programme over the years.

Since then, he has remained fairly quiet on social media and has only gone on to make one further public appearance on Celebrity MasterChef later that year where he was beaten to the post by Angellica Bell.

Ortis Deley

Ortis Deley first started first started his TV career on the popular Saturday night evening show Blind Date hosted by Cilla Black after he was spotted by industry giant Jan Simmonds.

After he rose to fame on the hit dating show, he quickly moved on to the hit children’s TV channel after he became a host for Trouble TV.

In 1999 the star became a staple presenter on the channel after working on Short Change and Live and Kicking in 2002.

The star worked on the kids channel for seven years before he made the transition over to mainstream TV where.

He joined the team on the Channel 5 consumer technology show, The Gadget Show, where he worked alongside Suzi Perry, Jon Bentley and Jason Bradbury but left the show in 2012.

Away from his presenting roles, the star has also appeared in a number of soaps including Doctors and The Bill as well as taking on a role in Noel Clarke’s film Kidulthood.

Since then, the star has returned to his role on The Gadget Show as well as presenting a slew of awards shows such as the PAPiAwards which celebrates innovation, technology and invention in young people and British Academy Children’s Awards.

Helen Skelton

Helen Skelton first started her TV career on Newsround back in 2007 where she quickly progressed to joining the team at Blue Peter one year later between 2008 to 2013.

During her time on the children’s show, the mum-of-three went on to raise money for a slew of charities over the years by completing various challenges.

This included running a 78-mile ultra marathon, solo kayaking down the Amazon River, walking a 150-metre tightrope between chimneys at Battersea Power Station more than 66 metres about the ground, reaching the South Pole using a bicycle and beating Love Island’s Camilla Thurlow in a boxing match for Sport Relief.

Loyal fans of the blonde bombshell will know the starlet followed her passion for the outdoors and ran with it, after she took up a presenting role on BBC One’s hugely popular nature show Countryfile alongside previous Blue Peter presenter Matt Baker.

But the TV presenter has been through a rough time in recent weeks after she announced her split from her husband of eight years Richie Myler just four months after they welcomed their third child Elsie.

The former rugby player then started a new relationship with the daughter of the multi-millionaire President of the Leeds Rhinos club he plays for shortly after the new parent’s announced their separation online.

However, the blonde bombshell is determined to turn her life around after she joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing 2022 last week where she will be forced to ditch her hiking boots for a pair of ballroom shoes.

Dick and Dom

The ultimate kids TV duo will forever be remembered for their ‘In Da Bungalow’ series which featured their hilarious Bogies prank as well as the hysterical ‘bum dance’.

The stars of the CBBC show – whose real names are Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood – have come on leaps and bounds from their early 2000s TV show.

They have appeared in everything from Bananas in Pyjamas, to Diddy TV from 2016 until 2018, with their most recent TV endeavour coming in 2021 when they appeared on The Weakest Link.

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Now, the pair look as though they haven’t aged a say since their CBBC debut, as they regularly update their loyal legion of fans on their latest career endeavours.

After originally making their fortunes as TV presenters, they dynamic duo have since made a huge career move and now regularly DJ for various events up and down the country – and it looks like they’re having a blast doing it.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk