Ade Adepitan MBE

Paralympian & Presenter

Having survived polio as a youngster, Ade Adepitan has gone on to compete as a wheelchair basketball player on an international level and has since built up a wealth of Broadcasting experience.

An instantly recognisable face, Ade traverses the world for BBC World News The Travel Show and is a Reporter on Channel 4’s foreign affairs series Unreported World which has seen him report from amongst others Honduras and Cuba. Other documentary work includes Ade Adepitan: Journey of my Lifetime, which saw Ade return to Nigeria, the place of his birth to explore the continuing polio endemic there.

Sporting presenting credits include fronting the BAFTA Awards winning coverage of the 2012 Paralympics and subsequently The Winter Games for Channel 4. Personal sporting achievements include a Bronze in The Athens Paralympics, Silver in the European Championships and Gold in The World Championships.

Ade began his TV career on Tiger Tiger, a children’s wildlife series for Channel Five that saw him traveling the world reporting on endangered species. He went onto report for BBC1’s flagship travel series Holiday and ITV’s Dream Ticket series. In 2005 he participated in Beyond Boundaries for BBC2, the groundbreaking series that saw 11 disabled individuals adventuring across Nicaragua.

Ade received an MBE in 2005 and was awarded Honorary Doctorates from Loughborough University in 2006 and the University of East London in 2010. Additionally, he is Patron of the disability sport charity Wheelpower, The Association of Wheelchair Children and Scope. He is also ambassador for the NSPCC and The Prince’s Trust. Ade has done a number of high profile public speaking engagements including the launch of the 2012 Olympic bid. He works extensively in the UK giving motivational speeches to schools, charities and businesses.