Iconic CBBC presenters send fans wild as they reunite at Christmas party – but can you name them all?
CBBC fans went wild after the gang of iconic presenters reunited for a festive snap at a Christmas party this week.
Six famous faces posing together made for some of the biggest shows in children’s TV in the early 2000s.
Ortis Deley, 52, who hosts Live and Kicking and X-change, was joined by Blue Peter’s Konnie Huq, 50, and Simon Thomas, 52.
Rounding out the group were: SMart welcomes Kristen O’Brien, 53, and Rani Price, 51, as well as Best Of Friends host Michael Absolom, 45.
The party was hosted by children’s presenters Angellica Bell, 49, of X-change and her husband Michael Underwood, 50, who hosts children’s game show What You Want.
Ortis shared the following message on Instagram: ‘Whose childhood is this?! When the CBBC team reunites.
CBBC fans went wild after a gang of iconic presenters reunited for a festive snap at a Christmas party this week
The party was hosted by children’s presenters Angellica Bell, 49, of X-change, and her husband Michael Underwood, 50, who hosts children’s game show What You Want.
‘@angellicabell & @michaelunderwoodteach have opened their home doors once again and it feels like Christmas is officially approaching. It could be bumpy from here.’
Fans went crazy and rushed to the comments: ‘Oh my God, it brought me back to my inner child’: ‘Me! and as a generation we cannot thank you enough. You were such fantastic role models and made an incredible impact on our childhood.
‘Absolutely my childhood’: ‘OMG ALL YOU PEOPLE MADE MY CHILDHOOD MAGICAL, SPECIAL AND HAPPY’.
It comes after reports the BBC was under pressure to remove David Walliams from its Christmas television programme.
The publisher appeared to rule out any further projects with the children’s book author following allegations that she had been dropped by HarperCollins. He harassed and behaved inappropriately towards female staff.
Walliams denied any wrongdoing and said he had not been informed of any allegations or parties to the investigation. He is currently receiving legal advice.
A member of parliament told Telegram The BBC ‘probably would be better safe than sorry’ and removed Walliams, 54, from its programme.
However, a BBC spokesman said:“We’re not making any changes to the festival programmes,” he said, before adding: “We don’t have any future projects directly related to this issue.” David Walliams.
Ortis Deley, 52, presented Live and Kicking as well as Short Change and Xchange from 2000 to 2001 (pictured right in 2002)
Kristen O’Brien, 53, is known for hosting the art fair sMart from 1999 to 2009 (pictured at right in 2002)
Simon Thomas, 52, was a Blue Peter presenter from 1999 until its exit in 2005 (pictured right in 2000)
Rani Price, 51, presented sMart, X-change and the children’s game show Best of Friends (shown right in 2003)
Konnie Huq, 50, joined Blue Peter in 1997 and became one of its longest-serving hosts before leaving in 2008 (photo at right in 2004)
Michael also hosted Sportsround as well as Best of Friends (image right 20023)
Ortis shared the following message on Instagram: ‘Whose childhood is this?! When the CBBC team reunites
Fans went crazy and rushed to the comments
The BBC will air two TV adaptations of Walliams’ books, as well as the Boxing Day special of Would I Lie to You? He appears here as a panelist.
However, this recording also sparked controversy after the author gave two Nazi salutes during filming.
CBBC will broadcast Mr Stink, the TV movie based on the 2009 Walliams book, at 9am today, while The Boy in the Dress will also be shown later in the day.
The BBC is also understood to have no plans to remove any content featuring Wallace from iPlayer.
The Daily Mail has contacted the BBC and Walliams’ representatives for further comment.
It comes as Walliams is enjoying a pre-Christmas break with his 12-year-old son Alfred in the Maldives, 5,000 miles away.
In a series of Instagram posts that appear to be sponsored, Walliams can be seen scuba diving, swimming and enjoying afternoon tea while tagging the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa resort.
One of the clips shows Walliams scuba diving with a turtle; The soundtrack from the Bond thriller You Only Live Twice is played and shared with the caption “a dream”.
The cast reunited for Absalom’s wedding in 2002, along with several famous faces (Jake Humphrey, Angellica Bell, Ortis Deley, Michael, Francesca, Barney Harwood, Michael Underwood, Kirsten O’Brien and Rani Price (pictured in LR)
The second post is titled ‘floating in paradise’, while the third post describes the resort as Walliams’ ‘new favorite place on earth’ and ‘complete and utter perfection’. The facility reshared his posts on its own Instagram page.
Photos show the former Britain’s Got Talent judge enjoying tea, cocktails and biscuits at the resort, where this week’s villas cost $6,105 (about £4,563) a night.
HarperCollins said in a statement on Friday that it had decided ‘not to publish new works by David Walliams’ following its own internal investigation.
The decision to let Walliams go follows the sudden departure of former England chief executive Charlie Redmayne in October. Mr Redmayne has since been replaced by Kate Elton.
Walliams’ spokesman denied any wrongdoing. They said: ‘David was never made aware of any allegations made against him by HarperCollins.
‘He was not party to any investigation or given the opportunity to answer questions. ‘David emphatically denies acting inappropriately and seeking legal advice.’
