The Team

Series 1 to 3

Andi Peters
Andi had been involved with children's television for many years before getting the Saturday morning job. One of his earliest appearances was on a programme called Freetime made by Thames Television for Children's ITV.

Andi made his move to a more prominent position by taking over the hot-seat in the CBBC Broom Cupboard from Andy Crane (who left to join the Travel Show, and later went on to present 'What Up Doc?' a Children's ITV Saturday morning show). Andi made a name for himself there, and had a puppet side-kick called Edd the Duck. He also for a period had the assistance of Wilson the Butler.

Andi appeared on Live and Kicking for the first three series (1983 to 1987) before leaving to take up a role at LWT (see later on...), and then later at Channel 4 where he is involved with the teen programming 'T4' , and their entertainment channel 'E4'. In July 2003, he returned to the BBC as 'Executive Editor - Popular Music' - a roll which would put him in the Executive Producer seat at Top Of The Pops. Emma Forbes
Emma had one of the ultimate upbringings into the world of show-biz. Her parents being the actress Nanette Newman and the film director Bryan Forbes.

Emma had found her way on to Saturday mornings prior to Live and Kicking by getting the editor of Going Live, Chris Bellinger, to let her do some cookery slots. These occasional pieces immediately went into Saturday morning folk-lore for the complete disaster that her assistant - Phillip Schofield - made of the simplest of tasks!

Emma found herself being the main presenter of Live and Kicking, and like Andi Peters, presented the first three series. She had originally intended to present series 4, but gave up the role after becoming pregnant between series.

She went on later to present a short-lived Friday evening programme called the Weekend Show - only shown in the LWT area - with her ex-Live and Kicking co-presenter Andi. John Barrowman
John Barrowman was born in Glasgow and later moved to Illinois in the States. He was already established as a well-know face in the world of West-End musicals when he took the Live and Kicking job having featured in shows such as Evita, Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love.

Although he tended to take slightly more of a 'back-seat' presenting role on the show, he held his own - especially when any of his skills were put to use.

John only presented the first series of the show before getting one of the lead roles in Sunset Boulevard. He continued to appear in taped form presenting the Electric Circus strand during series 2 and also presented C-BBC's The Movie Game.

John made a return to the small screen in May 2005 with role in the revival of Doctor Who playing Captain Jack Harkness, and subsequently gained his own Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood first broadcast in late 2006.

Jamie Theakston
Jamie had made a number of previous appearances on television prior to landing the Live and Kicking job. Our first documented glimpse was on the Clothes Show as a contestant in a modeling competition! 

He became an established face on children's television as he took over as one of the two main presenters of the pop show The O-Zone - the other being ex-model Jayne Middlemiss. This show had been a part of the CBBC Sunday Morning line-up since it's invention.

Jamie took over from Andi Peters at the start of the fourth series of the programme, and soon found his feet and made the male presenter's role his own by creating his own style, rather than trying to fill the gap.

Some of Jamie's best moments came with his antics with the pink and yellow walking disaster - Mr. Blobby.

Jamie continued to present The O-Zone and towards the end of his Saturdays stint was given his own Radio 1 show on Sundays.

After leaving Live and Kicking, Jamie has done numerous television jobs including working with Zoë Ball on another show (see later) Zoë Ball
Zoë is yet another presenter who has a famous parent. Her father, Johnny Ball, was a regular on Play School, Play Away and has his own series of Think programmes.

Like Jamie, Zoë has a documented early appearance. Her's was on an edition of Saturday SuperStore that her father was a guest on.

Zoë first found her way into children's television as part of the CBBC team who at that time worked out of TV Centre's Studio A., working with the likes of Toby Anstis and Josie D'Arby.

She had a break into Saturday Morning television by being chosen to present the summer replacement programme Fully Booked with Grant Stott, from the BBC's Glasgow studios. She went on to present Channel 4's The Big Breakfast as the replacement for Gaby Roslin. Her stint on this particular show, was only short.

After that, Zoë found herself back on CBBC, on the programme SMart, and soon after found herself recruited to Saturday Mornings. Zoë later went bi-media as she took on the Radio 1 Breakfast show, at first with Kevin Greening and then on her own.

After leaving Live and Kicking she married Norman Cook (aka Fat Boy Slim) and later left her Radio 1 show. She then was signed by Channel 4 to present her own show The Priory, but shortly before the series aired, Jamie Theakston was signed up to co-present.

Most recently, Zoë was seen coming in third on the 2005 series of BBC ONE's Strictly Come Dancing, and co-presented the live Dancing in the Street in 2006.

Steve Wilson
Steve was another graduate from the CBBC team to Saturday mornings.

He cut his teeth on the CBBC presenting and then was given the opportunity to present the second series Live and Kicking's spin-off show L&K Friday with Liz Fraser. He obviously made an impression on the show's producers as he was offered the presenter job on the main show from the show's seventh series.

Steve continued the relationship between presenter and Blobby - with the normal chaos and mess that comes with it. He is also a talented musician, and had shown off his keyboard skill by dueting on the show with stars such as Tom Jones and Phil Collins. Emma Ledden
Husky voiced, Cork born Emma joined the team at the same time as Steve Wilson.

They apparently hit it off from day one and that showed through in their on screen relationship.

Emma's previous careers have been varied - assistance in a clothes shop, waitress - and the job that led her to her Live and Kicking opportunity - as a VJ on MTV.

Steve and Emma's stint on Saturdays came to an premature end with the announcement on July 4, 2000 that they had 'mutually agreed' to leave the show. 

Steve went on to  present CBBC's Call the Shots, and Emma returned to MTV and also presented on BBC Three.

Ortis [Deley]
Ortis had been a part of the sixth series of Live & Kicking and it was no surprise that he was promoted to the role of one of the main presenters when the line up for series 7 was announced. He has a very natural presence on screen, along with a great sense of comedy.

Ortis also has been seen been the main presenter on the C-BBC consumer show Short Change, as the connection maker in the entertaining Why 5 and on the CBBC science show X-perimental. Ortis has also presented a one-off special of Tomorrow's World and has his own sports show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Katy Hill
Katy was secretary to the head of BBC Children's when she made a move to presenting. After a spell of 'learning' on the children's channel Nickelodeon, she took the prime job of co-presenting C-BBC's flagship programme Blue Peter in June 1995.

She spent 5 years with the programme, bowing out during 2000. In the meanwhile she been seen co-presenting the Sunday morning Football Fever show, and also the 2000 to 1 quiz show aired at the back end of 1999, along with UKOK, Top of the Tops and hosting both the CBBC Proms in the Park and the 1999 Children's BAFTA Awards. She also took a role in the BBC's 2000 Today programme as one of the massive team of reporters.

Katy bowed out of the programme at the end of the Autumn/Winter season on 14 April 2001 before the show relocated to Glasgow for the summer.

Katy has appeared since on Deck Dates (best not ask!) and the 2004 series of C4's The Games. Sarah Cawood
The tiny Sarah first came to prominence on the somewhat dubiously bad taste Girlie Show which was broadcast on Channel 4. Following that, she was seen on the children's channel Nickelodeon.

She was also one of the faces in the original programme line-up for Channel 5.

Following a stint working as one of Top of the Pops presenters, most recently Sarah has been seen as one of the faces of the National Lottery working mainly with Eamonn Holmes as draw presenter on Jet Set. Trey Farley
Philippine born, motorcycle loving Trey became a favourite of the Saturday morning audience with his quite bizarre humour (proved by his hilarious links into Popoholics!)

Trey's television career prior to his Saturday Morning stint has been with MTV UK working on their Select show.

Trey has appeared in a number of films, including Bend It Like Beckham and Containment. Trey married L&K co-presenter Katy Hill in 2004, and they had a first child during 2006. Heather Suttie
Heather replaced Katy Hill for the show's final six months after it's relocation to the BBC's Glasgow Studios.

Prior to Live & Kicking, she appeared on the CBBC show Hyperlinks.

Most recently Heather has been the host of XFM Scotland's Drivetime show.