Ade Adepitan MBE

TV Presenter, Paralympic Medalist and Journalist

Sport
Image of Ade Adepitan MBE

Ade Adepitan MBE is a TV presenter, Paralympic medalist, journalist and father.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in East London, Ade survived polio as a youngster. Contracting the virus at just 15 months old he began to lose the use of his legs, and aged three he and his parents migrated to the UK. Ade went on to succeed as an international Paralympic wheelchair basketball player and renowned broadcaster.

Ade’s work has taken him across the globe; going undercover with Channel 4’s Dispatches, reporting foreign affairs for Unreported World and more recently fronting the ground-breaking BBC Two series, Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline. Ade is co-host of Children in Need. He has hosted countless sporting events, including his BAFTA-award winning coverage of the 2012 Paralympics on Channel 4 co-hosted with Clare Balding.

In a personal documentary for Channel 4, Ade Adepitan: Journey of my Lifetime, Ade returned to his birthplace of Lagos to investigate Nigeria’s polio endemic. Ade’s story left viewers inspired and he received support on Twitter from Bill Gates, who invited him to speak at the Global Vaccine Summit: We Changed History in 2020, when Africa officially declared the country free from wild poliovirus. Ade continues to work alongside the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to end poliovirus globally.

Ade’s personal sporting achievements include a bronze in the Athens Paralympics, silver in the European Championships and gold in the World Championships.

Ade received an MBE in 2005 and was awarded Honorary Doctorate from Loughborough University in 2006 and the University of East London in 2010. Ade has also released four children’s books.