Helen Skelton - Biography & Images

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Helen Skelton joined the Blue Peter team in the summer of 2008, as the 33rd presenter of the long running show and during this time she has firmly cemented her place alongside the likes of John Noakes as a Blue Peter action star.

In 2009 she became only the second woman ever to complete the Nambia Ultra Marathon – a gruelling 78 mile course through the Namibian desert, which she finished in under 24 hours. Two weeks later she was taking part in the London Marathon. Her other exploits include: kayaking 2,010 miles down the Amazon for Sport Relief, breaking two Guinness World Records; the longest solo journey by kayak, and the longest kayak by a woman in 24 hours. This was followed by her Comic Relief challenge in 2011 which featured as a BBC One special, Girl On Wire, in which she undertook a 150 meter long, 66 meter high walk between the towers of Battersea Power Station. The special led to Helen’s first Best Presenter nomination at the 2011 Children’s BAFTAs as well as earning its own nomination in the Best Factual category.

All of these remarkable achievements however were utterly eclipsed by her latest challenge for Sport Relief. In January 2012 Helen travelled 500 miles across Antarctica to the South Pole by ski, kite and bike, enduring temperatures of -48 degrees, breaking another world record by becoming the fastest person to travel 100km by kite ski.

Away from Blue Peter, Helen has become a regular reporter on 5 Live, covering the London Marathon, Epsom Derby and Wimbledon since 2010.

Helen began her career in broadcasting working on Border ITV before spending time working on radio at CMF. Aged 23 she moved to co-presenting on BBC Radio Cumbria, becoming one of the youngest people ever to present a breakfast show on the BBC network.

Images of Helen Skelton

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