Royal Snub For Chiswick’s Blue Peter Presenters

Richard Bacon and Janet Ellis not invited to show’s 50th birthday party at the palace

It would seem that the palace has a long memory when it comes to TV presenters’ transgressions after Richard Bacon and Janet Ellis found themselves without an invitation to Blue Peter’s 50th anniversary tea party to be hosted by the Queen.

Bacon, who was sacked from the long running children’s show in 1999 for taking cocaine, told listeners of his Radio 5 Live show that he was disappointed he had not received an invite. He called fellow Chiswick resident and ex-host, Janet Ellis, and discovered that she too had not been invited.

The mother of singer Sophie Ellis Bextor, caused controversy in 1985 when she announced she was having a baby out of wedlock. She told Bacon on air, “I feel that you and I have atoned for our crimes,” to which Bacon responded, “Valerie Singleton apparently had a fling with Peter Purves but I bet you she’s been invited.”

The BBC said that only the 'longest-serving' Blue Peter presenters had been invited because of limited places available.

October 2, 2008