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[title]‘Say no more!’
AJ Odudu is making moves. She’s striding around a Clerkenwell photo studio, making dramatic lunges and taking bites out of a Tesco strawberry pencil: ‘Delicious!’ The hoppity rap of Eve’s early noughties tune ‘Who’s That Girl?’ bounces off the walls: AJ wiggles her hips to the beat, mouthing the chorus and laughing at herself unprompted.
The ‘Big Brother’ host is no stranger to the camera. From ‘Bake Off’ to ‘Strictly’, Eurovision to Comic Relief, she’s pretty much completed ‘iconic British telly’. Often clad in a signature skin-tight catsuit, mic in hand, she makes it all look effortless – and it’s not been a straight road to get there. Six months after landing her big break aged 25 as one of three presenters for the spin-off ‘Big Brother’s Bit on the Side’, she was dropped from the show. That wasn’t the end of her time at the iconic house, though. Eleven years later, and after jobs at a call centre, as a personal trainer, and on various TV shows, she’s back – with a thicker skin and infectious determination.
It’s been 23 years since ‘Big Brother’ first aired on Channel 4 and changed TV forever. AJ hosted the ITV reboot last October, which was celebrated for its diverse casting of ‘normal, British people’ rather than the body-perfect twenty-somethings which have become synonymous with late 2010s reality telly. ‘I think people find it important to see themselves reflected back,’ AJ says. ‘That’s the exciting thing for me – I was a little girl who always wanted to be inside the TV. And I’m now working on shows as a presenter inside the TV!’
Almost every night at 9pm, AJ is joined by co-presenter and long-time friend Will Best for the revival of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’. At the time of writing it’s been on air for just a week, but already there’s been a gratifying amount of drama: Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh have been caught bitching about Adele, James Corden and Anna Wintour, tensions are rising between ‘Love Island’ winner Ekin-Su and presenter Zeze Millz, while Gary Goldsmith has been interrogated about the whereabouts of his royal niece Kate Middleton. All in a day’s work.
After her Time Out cover shoot, AJ sits down over a glass of red to talk about becoming a Londoner, partying all weekend and being a nosy neighbour.
What is your earliest memory of London?
When I was about 11 years old, my dad moved to London and became a bus conductor. My mum would send us packing to his bedsit: me, my younger brother, my younger sister, my mum and my dad, all in one room with a bathroom shared with a bunch of strangers. Our daily activity would be to sit on the bus – I think it was the 171 around New Cross. I remember actually thinking: gosh, it’s so busy in London. But there was something that intrigued me.
Tell me more about your upbringing. What was that like?
I’ve got five brothers, two sisters. Born and based in Blackburn, Lancashire, to two Nigerian immigrant parents. I always knew I wanted to be on the TV, so as soon as I could, I moved to London. I got a job in a local pub. During the day I would go into all of these different places and hand in my CV.
Do you think that works?
It works! People appreciate someone who just tries. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to get a ‘no’ or any rejection, but I’ve always been a firm believer that every ‘no’ is taking you one step closer to your ‘yes’. Obviously, you don’t think that optimistically about it at the time, but that’s how I taught myself how to think.
How long have you lived in London?
Nearly 15 years now. When I first moved, it took me ages to even find mates. I remember calling my mates back home, like, ‘I’m loving it, I really am, but I don’t have my girlfriends to go out with’. Four years in, I was like: I’m just about having fun now, the loneliness has stopped and I don’t want to go back. Then before you know it, you’re 60.
I ended up moving to Brick Lane when I was 21 with my mate Emma. We lived in this flatshare with a bunch of strangers; we found the advert on Gumtree and had single beds in our room. We had the time of our lives.
Was the area quite different to how it is now?
It was really grimy, but affordable for young dreamers. The bagel shop was there and would have queues around the block. There were a lot of designers, a big arts scene, a lot of DJs doing free gigs around all the pubs and clubs. There was a lot of excitement in the air. No one was pretentious. We were like: we’re all skint but we all want to have fun.
Me and Emma would know all of the market owners and at the end of the day on a Sunday, we’d get free curries. We were getting sweet deals, snogging the DJ, getting into clubs for free, getting our free drinks: we were hustling. We had no money – what were we going to do? But it was so much fun. You could party until six in the morning. The Big Chill used to be our spot, especially in the summer. They’d do weekend-long parties. Bar 1001 was open 24 hours.
Are you still a going out girl?
We’re a going out girl. But it used to be so much easier to go out in London. There used to be so many pubs, clubs, bars that you could just casually pop out to. Now last orders are always at 10.30 to kick you out at 11. And then it’s straight to a dark club with ‘oonts oonts’ music – there’s no in-between stage.
There’s no spontaneity.
No spontaneity! You need to know exactly where you’re going, you need a gig ticket or a private house membership.
TV is harder to access if you’re not living in Camden
Has your relationship with London changed since you’ve become more well known?
Every year that I’m here, I fall a little bit more in love with London because I find new pockets of communities. I think that’s the thing that’s so hard to find initially – especially if you’re from a smaller town like mine where I knew all my neighbours. But the more I’ve been in London I’ve just gotten into the rhythm of being at least an hour from everything. And that’s just how it is. It’s really annoying – I don’t know about you, but I’m always carrying trainers and heels.
TV is quite London centric. Would you say it’s the same as when you started?
It’s definitely massively improved. Now, I see opportunities – in Leeds or Manchester, even parts of Newcastle or Glasgow – but I still think the major opportunities are in London. I hope that expands because there’s so many pockets of the UK that have been completely overlooked where there’s so much talent. People who are born and raised in London don’t realise how difficult it is to move away from your friends and family and how lucky they are to have the opportunities on their doorsteps. That’s why I’m really proud to be an ambassador for the Royal Television Society bursary scheme, which helps with funding, networking and careers advice – all of that jazz. I do think TV is harder to access if you’re not living in Camden.
What is your earliest memory of reality TV?
I was in year eight when ‘Big Brother’ came out for the first time. Everyone got into school on a Monday and was like: ‘Oh my gosh, did you watch “Big Brother”?’ I was obsessed with Darren [Ramsay, Big Brother 1 finalist]. And I find event television really exciting to this day. You have to stay at home to turn it on. It’s amazing that TV is still magical when you work in it, rather than just watching it.
Has TV always retained a sparkle for you? Earlier in your career you were dropped from a ‘Big Brother’ spin-off show. Did that make you think: maybe not?
It didn’t make me question the magic of television. It just made me more aware of how fiercely competitive it is, how dog-eat-dog it can be. It made me understand the true meaning of having a thick skin, which was something everyone said to me at the beginning. Now, I can laugh things off.
Now you’re hosting ‘Big Brother’, is it how you envisioned it?
It’s actually better. The shape of reality TV has completely changed. When I was growing up, we didn’t even have the title ‘reality TV’ for that type of programming. It was literally just a social experiment.
Some people are saying that reality TV is in its comeback era, with the re-launch of ‘Big Brother’ and the success of ‘The Traitors’. Why do you think that’s happening now?
There was a time when everyone was like: ‘TV’s dead, everyone’s watching YouTube’. But I’ve stood by TV. It’s not dead. If anything, we’re consuming more media than ever before – Instagram, TikTok – so you need to make something stand out and feel a bit more special. In the era of social media and glossy filters, people are ready to have some reality.
There was a time when everyone was like: ‘TV’s dead, everyone’s watching YouTube’. But I’ve stood by it
And why do you think Brits just love reality TV so much?
We are all, deep down, nosy neighbours. We want to know absolutely everything. Reality TV gives you an escapism and a sense of fantasy that you can touch, that is tangible. We could go to where they filmed ‘Made in Chelsea’ or ‘TOWIE’.
You’ve had a huge year. What has the last 12 months taught you?
It taught me that I can really do hard things. I can get knocked down and keep getting back up again. And again. And again. It taught me that I’m really resilient and that hard work pays off – and that good things do happen to good people. Dreams do come true if you really focus and work hard at it.
Now you’ve ticked off these career milestones, do you feel a pressure to achieve the next thing?
Not from anyone in particular. I’m really mindful of how turbulent the industry can be – one minute you’re hot, the next you’re not – so I’m trying to be happy with the things I’ve got. Yeah, I want to do more family entertainment shows, I want my makeup brand deal. I want to do it all. But I’m enjoying it, not succumbing to the pressure of constantly scrambling for the next thing.
What about your personal life – is it harder to find a balance these days?
Honestly, my schedule is go-go-go and my social battery is quite high. It’s higher than a lot of people that I know. It’s the way I was raised: you work hard, grit your teeth and get on with it. That’s in my DNA. So I’m just going to work as hard as I can for as long as I can. Then everything else will hopefully fall into place.
‘Celebrity Big Brother’ is on ITV1, Sunday to Friday at 9pm.