Defining moment the UK finally gave AJ Odudu her long-overdue flowers-Josie Copson-Entertainment – Metro

AJ Odudu has risen to the top (Picture: Rex)

AJ Odudu has become a primetime TV master, but it took a long while for her to reach this point.

Alongside bestie Will Best, 39, she will begin fronting ITV’s second series of Big Brother tonight.

Fans know the OG reality show is safe because AJ, 36, has made a name for herself as one of the presenting giants, and has consistently proved her hosting chops.

Despite AJ’s natural small-screen presence, beautiful accent, funny nature, impeccable fashion sense and sparkling personality, it wasn’t always this way. It took one career-defining moment for things to change for her, which came in the form of a memorable appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.

Let’s take a look at exactly how AJ catapulted herself to stardom with some kicks and flicks…

Making moves to pursue a dream

AJ’s first job was on The Almost Perfect Guide to Life with Reggie Yates (Picture: BBC)

Born Onatejiro Odudu, AJ was the second youngest of eight children for bus conductor James, and Florence, who worked as a seamstress, cleaner, and dinner lady.

The family of ten lived in a three-bedroom terrace house in Blackburn, which is where AJ first found her love of performing. ‘When I was about six years old, I remember saying to my mum: “I want to get inside the TV, how do I do it?”‘ she recalled to The Guardian.

‘It was joyous, it was fun. I was like: “I want to make people feel like this”.’

After studying English and politics at Keele University, she began on her path to getting inside the box. Initially, she worked as a reporter on BBC Radio Lancashire, but quickly secured her first presenting gig on BBC Two’s The Almost Perfect Guide to Life in 2009. In the six episodes, AJ and Reggie Yates shared a guide on everything that teenagers want to know but are not sure who to ask.

Proving she had what it took, AJ continued to appear on smaller shows including Channel 4’s Comedy Lab, and Sky’s coverage of the Isle of Wight Festival 2012, while now living in London.

She was finding some success but found one issue kept coming up. AJ was told to get rid of her Lancashire accent to get more work. ‘It’s so interesting how people can just judge you by how you sound or what you look like,’ AJ reflected on Lorraine.

‘Thank goodness I’ve got my mum who has still got the most glorious Nigerian accent.’ Florence told AJ: ‘No you’re from where you are from and that’s part of who you are so keep the accent.’

In spite of the barriers, she finally got her big break (or so it seemed)…

Big Brother enters the chat

AJ thought she’d finally got her big break (Picture: Channel 5)

In 2013, AJ was chosen as one of the presenters of Big Brother’s Bit on the Side along with Rylan Clark and Emma Willis on Channel 5.

After years of trying to make it, AJ thought that this was finally her moment. However, after one year she was axed from the lineup, and replaced by the former Loose Women panellist Carol McGiffin.

‘I was absolutely devastated. I was crushed,’ she told The Times.

‘It more than stung. I cried for months. I was so, so upset. I felt, like, gosh, what am I going to do?’

The career setback coincided with AJ discovering that her boyfriend at the time had been cheating on her. She called the whole situation ‘tragic’.

After being outed from Big Brother, she began sleeping on her dad’s sofa and working at a call centre. It was one of the lowest points of her life, but AJ’s tenacity led to her switching gears.

During the unintentional break from TV, AJ retrained as a personal trainer, set up a fitness blog and began a YouTube channel. This new passion is what AJ partly credits for helping her to ‘get her mojo back’.

Strictly Come Dancing is AJ’s big break

AJ’s luck began to change (Picture: BBC)

Things hadn’t worked out the way AJ had hoped, but she tried to keep the dream alive. She continued to take ad hoc jobs, and luckily a gig on the now-defunct 4 Music channel turned into something more permanent.

Here, AJ worked with Maya Jama, Vick Hope, and her future Big Brother co-host Will, and finally, her confidence fully returned.

AJ managed to springboard off 4 Music to get a backstage presenting gig on The Voice, and documentary, Manhunting with My Mum. While reality TV such as Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and Great British Bake Off did the job of making her more recognisable.

However, it was one series in particular that really helped AJ to break into the mainstream – Strictly Come Dancing of course.

AJ and Kai made it to the final three (Picture: BBC / Guy Levy)

On the BBC juggernaut in 2021, AJ showcased exactly what makes her special. While she consistently impressed on the dance floor – her jive to Gold Dust by DJ Fresh has gone down in Strictly history – it was also her antics away from it that left a lasting impression. She shone in appearances on It Takes Two and during her post-dance interviews with Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

Her likeability and dance talent led to AJ landing in the final three, but in a devastating turn of events, she tore a ligament in her right ankle and withdrew from the contest.

While she never got to complete her journey, the TV series helped AJ to elevate her career further.

Full circle moment

AJ has finally got her flowers (Picture: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)

Now firmly at the forefront of TV bosses’ minds, it didn’t take long for AJ to secure the ultimate job – Big Brother. It was a full circle moment for the star, who’d experience the biggest knockback of her career from the franchise.

The opportunity gave AJ the chance to rewrite history and that’s exactly what she’s done. More than 2.5 million viewers watched AJ and Will on the launch show, and she was praised for undertaking the role with such flair.

It didn’t take long for her catchphrases ‘Helloooooo’ and ‘Please do not swuuuuuur’ to become synonymous with the revived format, proving that her accent is now an asset. They are not quite ‘Fancy another one?’ level yet but there is time.

The series went so well that ITV brought back spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother, which aired at the start of the year. And on Sunday, AJ will be back on the microphone, doing what she dreamed of doing since she was six, once again.

How does AJ feel about finally getting her flowers? ‘I feel comfortable, happy and content. I’m just enjoying every single little thing.’

Big Brother returns tonight on ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm.

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