Jake Humphrey breaks silence on Blue Peters future | UK News

Former CBBC presenter Jake Humphrey has spoken out about the future of youngsters’s TV collection Blue Peter. It was reported earlier this 12 months that the long-running show will no longer be broadcast live on a linear channel and will seem first on BBC iPlayer. Although the show will not be ending, Jake has had his say on the monumental modifications. The programme first started in October 1958, and at its peak of success, it aired 3 times a week on BBC One. Blue Peter will also still be shown on CBBC, where Jake was a common presenter and fronted exhibits such as Sportsround and Bamzooki. Speaking completely to Express Online, the previous broadcaster said: “It’s sad for the decline of live television.”

Jake added: “As presenters, there need to be places where you can go and learn your craft, right? I was there working with Fern Cotton, Holly Willoughby, Ant and Dec, and Andi Peters. All of these amazing presenters have come through the Children’s BBC stable or Children’s ITV.”

He continued: “So part of me feels that for the next generation of live presenters, where they’re going to cut their teeth, right?” Speaking about Blue Peter particularly, Jake commented: “I think what you can’t afford to do these days in any walk of life, whether you’re in written media, whether you’re in sports presenting, whether you’re in TV, you can’t force people to go to a place where they’re not spending very much time.

“So the most important Blue Peter can do really is stop worrying about whether or not it is a TV show, and start pondering, ‘Right, where are the viewers?’ Are they on YouTube? Are they on social?

“Blue Peter stood for compassion, outdoor adventure, creativity, working in a team, and doing big things that people thought weren’t possible back then.

“All of that stuff is still related, but you need to be offering that stuff to younger people where those younger people are.”

Jake recently participated in The FA’s Baller ID Campaign, which aims to inspire young people aged 12-16 to make one healthier choice per week. He aims to tackle social media influence, identity pressures, and health challenges.

Research from the campaign shows that 91 per cent of parents believe a sense of belonging is important or very important to their child’s emotional well-being, which Jake can personally relate to.

Speaking about the campaign, he said, “I believe youngsters ought to have less screen time, but I believe more important than less screen time is what youngsters are trying at when they’re utilizing screens.

“This kind of daily battle with these things that are so addictive to young people. It’s a daily battle for us, like it is for all parents, and my kids, by the way, are quite outdoorsy kids. But I see them on screens a lot.

“When I spoke with the FA, and they said that a real big issue for youngsters is that over 60 per cent of them are evaluating themselves to other people they see online, and whether or not that’s their talents, their image, their fitness, their physique form, which worries me an terrible lot.

“It’s getting young people to answer this very cool questionnaire. I did it with my kids. I just think it’s a really smart way of getting kids to do things differently online, to view themselves differently.”

Baller ID is now live, and content might be discovered across England Football’s social platforms.