AJ Odudu’s prime time appearance on ITV1 last night at The BRITs with two of ITV’s biggest stars is a sign the northern powerhouse presenter is set to host ITV2’s reboot of Big Brother this year, Politicalite can exclusively reveal.
A top telly source familiar with the Big Brother reboot at the network told Politicalite last night that her appearance at the end of The BRITs – with show host Mo Gilligan, Love Island’s host Maya Jama and The Masked Singer’s Joel Dommett was no accident – and was “to position her as one of ITV’s upcoming entertainment faces”, with an official announcement on Big Brother coming “very soon”.
“AJ has also been increasing her brand appeal and digital media exposure with a big money deal with Google.” as the face of the Pixel smartphone range.
“That sets her apart from other names approached by ITV.” the source added.
We reported in November 2022 that Aj, who is from Blackburn in the North West of England was being tipped to be in final negotiations to sign up as the presenter of hit reality juggernaut when the show returns to TV in October for the first time since 2018.
Now AJ is said to be in the running to take over as presenter with a source telling Politicalite in November: “AJ has been offered the Big Brother job and jumped at the opportunity. It’s a huge boost to her career.”
“AJ and ITV are still ironing out details in her contract but she has told a lot of people the job is hers.”
The 34-year-old TV star previously hosted ‘Big Brother’ spin-off ‘Bit On The Side’ back in 2013 so fronting the main show will be a major step up.
The Sun reported last year how she saw off competition from previous ‘Big Brother’ star Alison Hammond as well as actress Emily Atack and Radio 1 DJ Vick Hope to land the hosting gig.
The reality juggernaut that made some of ITV’s daytime presenters the stars they are today such as Alison Hammond and Kate Lawler and Josie Gibson has been off-air for six years but is returning to TV in Autumn after bosses at ITV bought the rights and decided to reboot the series with a format believed to be closer to the original social experiment which first aired in the UK on Channel 4 back in 2000.
ITV’s flagship daytime show This Morning also aired a special segment on Friday celebrating Big Brother with narrator Marcus Bentley – BB3 winner Kate Lawler, BB5 winner Nadia Almada and BB1 legend Nasty Nick, to get viewers excited about the new series that’s set to be filmed on an airfield with a HUGE new house to take it back to its glory days.
An ITV spokesperson told Politicalite: “All suggestions surrounding the host are speculation at this stage.”
