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Wales Online
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Stephanie Colderick

Where are the former presenters of Newsround as the BBC children's staple turns 50?

Newsround is a staple of most of our childhoods with the children's news programme providing younger generations across the UK with everything they need to know about world matters and affairs. The show has now been running for 50 years and was originally called John Craven's Newsround before the original host left the show after 17 years at the helm.

Since John, there have been many Newsround presenters and the show currently has five presenters and is aired on the BBC's children's channel CBBC at 7.45am on weekdays. With the show turning 50 we have taken a look back at the original presenters and where they are now.

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John Craven

John now presents Countryfile (Handout)

With the show originally named after him, John Craven played a massive role in Newsround and hosted the show for 17 years. During his time on Newsround he also began presenting the children's programmes Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore.

After leaving Newsround John went on to present Countryfile which he continues to do today, at the age of 81. He recently told the MailOnline that his eyesight started to become blurred and he is struggling with his hearing.

Lucy Mathen

Lucy was the first-ever British Asian female to host a major national TV show when she began presenting Newsround in 1976. She was also the programme's first dedicated reporter.

After Newsround Lucy re-trained as a doctor when she was 36 and launched a non-profit organisation called Second Sight to help prevent blindness caused by cataracts in north India. Now 68, she has also written two books about her charity work and in 2017 launched FAME, which works to eliminate vitamin A deficiency and the blindness that occurs from that in India.

Howard Stableford

One of Newsround's shortest-serving presenters, only presenting the show for a year in 1984, was Howard Stableford. He went on to present the BBC's flagship science and technology programme Tomorrow's World where he was one of the show's longest-serving presenters.

After Tomorrow's World Howard moved to America where he became a technology reporter for KUSA and a stadium announcer with the Major League rugby team the Colorado Raptors. He now splits his time between America and the UK.

Helen Rollason

Helen Rollason joined Newsround in 1987 where she helped to increase the show's sports coverage. After three years on Newsround Helen joined BBC Sport in 1990 where she shot to success and became the first female presenter of Grandstand, presented Sport on Friday, and covered Wimbledon and the Olympic games.

In 1997 Helen was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and was told she only had three months to live. She beat this diagnosis and continued working while undergoing chemotherapy and last appeared on screen in June 1999. She passed away in August 1999 aged just 43. There's now an award presented in her honour during the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.

Juliet Morris

Juliet joined Newsround in 1990 (BBC)

Joining Newsround in 1990, Juliet presented on the show until 1995, when she left to host BBC Breakfast News. After that she presented the Heaven and Earth Show and was the main presenter for the current affairs programme Here and Now. Similar to John, she has also presented Countryfile.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy

The current Channel 4 news presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy presented Newsround from 1991 to 1994. In 1997 he was one of the launch presenters of BBC News 24 and he joined Channel 4 news in 1998.

He is the second longest-serving presenter at Channel 4 News and he has also covered the Paralympics for Channel 4. Krishnan has clashed with celebrities while interviewing them, including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Downey Jr.

Julie Etchingham

Julie Etchingham is a current ITV news presenter and is a University of Cambridge graduate who presented Newsround for four years from 1994 to 1999. In 2008 she was part of the team which presented the re-launched ITV News at Ten and from 2010 presented the relaunched Tonight programme. In 2022 announced she would be now be reporting for the show.

Julie has covered the 2011 Royal Wedding, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and interviewed Theresa May when she was Prime Minister.

Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers with fellow Newsround presenters Julie Etchingham and Kate Sanderson (BBC)

With many big television companies under his belt, Chris Rogers went on to present for Sky News, ITV, and the BBC after presenting Newsround. He presented Newsround for five years from 1994 to 1999.

He is currently a BBC news presenter and in 2017 created his own production company Fresh Start Media which makes programmes for the BBC and ITV.

Lizo Mzimba

Currently the Entertainment Correspondent for BBC News, Lizo Mzimba presented Newsround for 10 years from 1998 to 2008. He was also an assistant producer for the show.

Lizo is from Birmingham and regularly Tweets out entertainment news from his own Twitter account.

Jake Humphrey

Popular presenter Jake Humphrey began his career presenting Newsround from 2005 to 2008, before becoming the well-known sports presenter he is today. In 2006 he began hosting Football Focus, Match of the Day in 2007, and in 2009 became the anchor for the BBC's F1 coverage.

Currently Jake presents football programmes and coverage for BT Sport, which he joined in 2013. He also has his own podcast The High-Performance podcast which he hosts with Damian Hughes.

Helen Skelton

Helen now has her own BBC Radio Five show (Channel 5)

Before joining another popular children's programme Blue Peter, Helen Skelton was a reporter and presenter for Newsround. She has taken part in Strictly Come Dancing and is often doing charity work, as well as covering Olympic Games.

Now she also presents Countryfile and has her own weekly radio show on BBC Radio 5.

Barney Harwood

Children's presenter Barney Harwood presented Newsround Specials in 2009 and is also known for presenting Basil's Swap Shop and Blue Peter, where he became one of the longest-serving presenters.

Barney left CBBC in 2017 and since then has appeared on Celebrity Masterchef and had roles in theatre.

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