TikTok star Kyle Thomas set to be new Blue Peter presenter as CBBC bosses hope his 34 million followers will boost viewing figures
This is a growing trend; channels that bring social media stars to classic shows and attract new viewers.
And now it looks like Blue Peter will be replacing one influencer with another.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Kyle Thomas, who has a staggering 34 million followers on social media platform TikTok, is set to take over from Joel Mawhinney, who left earlier this year. He has 16 million TikTok followers.
Sources at the BBC say the process of recruiting young talent in the modern media age is more about numbers than auditions. This way they bring the audience with them.
Thomas, 21, from Lisburn, Co Down, has gained a huge following thanks to his posts about exotic animals. He also has 1.3 million followers on Instagram.
A source close to the show said: ‘Thomas has a real passion for animals and it’s proven hugely popular on TikTok. If they can get just a few of their followers to Blue Peter, signing him up would really be a no-brainer.’
Thomas appeared as a guest on the CBBC program and delivered a segment that showed viewers ‘creepy crawlies can be cute’. But there was controversy when his mother, Zena Foord, was found guilty of smuggling an unlicensed capybara, the world’s largest rodent, from Cambridgeshire to Northern Ireland. His son regularly included the animal in his posts.
Thomas named the capybara Queen Elizabeth and dressed her in jewels, crowns, and dresses. Shortly after arriving at the family’s home, he fell ill and later died.
Kyle Thomas with the capybara his mother smuggled from Cambridgeshire to Northern Ireland
Animal featured in Thomas’ TikTok videos: His mother was convicted of smuggling
Thomas has 34 million TikTok followers and is set to host Blue Peter
Mawhinney, 28, from Bangor, Co Down, announced he would be leaving Blue Peter earlier this year.
There were fears that Mawhinney’s co-host and girlfriend, 25-year-old Shini Muthukrishnan, might also follow him out the door, but she is yet to do so.
This is a far cry from the programme’s heyday in the early 1970s, when it was hosted by John Noakes, Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton.
TV audiences on BBC1 at the time could reach an impressive eight million viewers.
