Joel Mawhinney is about to follow in the footsteps of the late Caron Keating, Zoe Salmon and Adam Beales in keeping up the proud tradition of Northern Ireland-born Blue Peter presenters.

Joel, who comes from Bangor, has been announced as the 41st Blue Peter presenter and will co-host alongside Richie, Mwaksy and Henry the dog, with his first live show airing on Friday, November 11 on CBBC and BBC iPlayer at 5pm.

The 25-year-old former Bangor Grammar student is a magician and content creator who first appeared on Blue Peter in 2018 as a guest. He also guest presented the show over summer 2022 when he taught some of his co-presenters magic tricks. He also starred in his own BBC NI TV series ‘Life is Magic’ in 2020.

Family is important to Joel and his tricks often feature his brother Ethan. He also credits his dad for “teaching me that being kind is the greatest magic there is”.

placeholder image — New Blue Peter presenter Joel Mawhinney with Henry the dog

He said: “Becoming the 41st Blue Peter presenter is a surreal – and dare I say it – magical experience.

"I’ve always loved making people smile with my magic and I want to do the same for the Blue Peter audience. They have high expectations and I’ll do my best to live up to them. I can’t wait to get started.”

Blue Peter Editor, Ellen Evans, said: “Joel is a fantastic entertainer, he is creative, hardworking, and ready for any challenge that we can throw at him. I think that our Blue Peter audience will love the energy and fun he’ll bring to the show.”