Ade Adepitan

British television presenter and sportsman

Adedoyin Olayiwola "Ade" Adepitan MBE (born 27 March 1973) is a Nigerian-British wheelchair basketball player and television presenter.

Ade Adepitan
MBE
Adepitan in 2010
Personal information
Full nameAdedoyin Olayiwola Adepitan
Nickname(s)Ade
NationalityBritish
Born (1973-03-27) 27 March 1973 (age 51)
Maryland, Lagos, Nigeria
EmployerBBC, Channel 4
Medal record
Wheelchair basketball
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Men's wheelchair basketball

As a presenter, he has presented many travel documentaries and sport programmes for BBC television. Adepitan is an award-winning disability advocate. He is one of the UK's first physically disabled television presenters, with a career about 21 years.

Early life

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Adepitan was born in Lagos. When he was a baby, he contracted polio, which caused damage to his legs that made him a wheelchair user. At the age of three, he moved with his family to the UK. This is where he grew up in East London.

Sports

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Becoming a wheelchair basketball player, he was part of the British team that played at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. He obtained a bronze medal. Involved in many charities promoting access to sport for disabled people, in 2005 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to sport for the disabled.

Television

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During the 2000s, Adepitan began appearing on British television. His first appearances included as an actor in the shows Casualty and Desperados. He also went on to present for sports programs during the 2000s. Beginning in the 2010s, he appeared more and presented in travel documentaries and television specials. At first he worked for episodes of the series Unreported World of Channel 4, then for BBC Africa with Ade Adepitan, Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline and Children In Need.