Ade Adepitan

Ade Adepitan MBE (born 27 March 1973) is a British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player. He uses a wheelchair as a result of contracting polio as a child which led to the loss of use of his left leg.

Adepitan was born in Maryland, Lagos, Nigeria on 27 March 1973. At the age of six months, Adepitan contracted polio which resulted in the loss of function of his left leg, and ultimately prevented him from walking.

At the age of three, Adepitan and his mother emigrated to Newham in London, United Kingdom to join his father. He was educated at Southern Road Primary School in Plaistow, Newham, which he credits with helping him with his disability and problems at home. From an early age, he had aspirations of becoming an international sportsman. He also attended Lister Community School.

Adeptitan is an accomplished wheelchair basketball player, for his club Milton Keynes Aces and as a member of Great Britain team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and the gold medal at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Adepitan has featured on many television programmes and series as an actor, presenter or guest, particularly for the BBC. He often uses television as a platform to campaign against racism and disability discrimination. He was one of three wheelchair basketball players featured in the 2002 BBC One ident Hip-Hop. He was one of the main presenters of the children's programme Xchange produced for CBBC and has appeared in the soap opera EastEnders. He starred as wheelchair basketball coach, "Baggy Awolowo", in the TV series Desperados.

Adepitan also participated in Beyond Boundaries which was a four-part documentary in which Adepitan trekked through rainforests, deserts, rivers and mountains in Nicaragua and made his own video diary filmed in London and Spain, talking about his sporting aspirations and how he coped as a London boy living in Zaragoza unable to speak any Spanish.

Adepitan was appointed as one of the main presenters on Channel 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and co-presents That Paralympic Show with Rick Edwards.

In 2013, he presented a Channel 4 Dispatches programme, 'Britain on Benefits', and also presented a documentary for Channel 4's 'Unreported World' about Cuban basketball players, 'Cuba, Basketball and Betrayal'. Adepitan has become increasingly involved in making documentaries for Channel 4.

In 2014, he became one of the presenters of the new BBC travel series The Travel Show. He also anchored the Winter Paralympic Games for Channel 4 and Invictus Games for the BBC. In July 2016, he guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones. In 2016, Ade co-presented three-part BBC Two series New York: America's Busiest City alongside Anita Rani and Ant Anstead. He was part of the Channel 4 Rio 2016 Paralympics presenting team alongside Clare Balding.

Adepitan does a lot of charity work, particularly supporting many charities to help other people with physical disabilities. He is a patron of Go Kids Go (formerly known as Association of Wheelchair Children). He is also a great supporter of the National Society of the Prevention of the Cruelty to Children Charity and the WheelPower Charity. Adepitan travelled to Ghana in support of Comic Relief. He also participated in the Disabled Motoring UK Alps 2011 Challenge. Adepitan is also an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, the world's leading sport for development charity.

Adepitan was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to disability sport in 2005. He was also presented with an Honorary Doctorate from Loughborough University, in recognition of his outstanding services to, and performances in, disability sport.

In 2005 Ade was awarded a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ by the Champions Club UK in recognition not only of his efforts at promoting disability sport, but also for being a positive role model. He was particularly commended for his strong and persistent message of hope within the young black disabled community.

He was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award by the University of East London in 2010, and had an Honorary Doctorate conferred by the university in November 2010.