Cardiff CBeebies presenter remembers his time on the children’s channel which celebrates its 20th birthday
THE Cardiff-born presenter of children’s channel CBeebies, which turns 20 today, says the role was his “dream job”.
Alex Winters, 45, from Fairwater, spoke about his experiences working on CBeebies, the BBC channel whose programmes were targeted at children aged 6 and under.
It launched on February 11, 2002 alongside other children’s channel CBBC, with programmes including the Teletubbies, Pingu, Binka, and Step Inside.
Mr Winters became a presenter at the BBC channel in 2009 though also occasionally appeared on CBBC, which was aimed at older children. His favourite show from the channel was Gigglebiz hosted by Justin Fletcher MBE.
“I would watch even when the kids weren’t around,” he said.
Mr Winters got the job as a presenter in the CBeebies House that provides continuity between different programmes as well as interaction with viewers.
He said: “I feel bad when people ask me about this because I just went for the job. The BBC never advertises for presenters but someone mentioned there was an advert for two new presenters.”
When auditioning for the job, Mr Winters, who now lives in Manchester, said he fainted while dressed as a tomato.
He said: “One thing I remember from that whole process was the final audition before I got the job. I was feeling ill though I hadn’t realised it was pneumonia. I was dressed as a tomato and passed out on the floor.
“The next moment I woke up at the Heath Hospital in Cardiff and got the call while I was in bed getting my bloods taken.”
Mr Winters only has positive things to say when looking back on his time at CBeebies. He now works freelance behind the scenes for a variety of media organisations including ITV and the BBC.
He added: “The first day I walked on set it made you realise that this is big. Getting the job felt like winning the lottery and working there really was just perfect.
“There was never any negativity on set and people were so genuine. It’s hard not to use cliches and it was just lovely to do. You were doing something that made people smile. When looking at the camera, I just thought of my four-year-old daughter Grace.
“The colours did hurt your eyes sometimes though,” he joked.
Mr Winters has three children and said he would often think of them when he was working. Grace, now aged 15, and George, 13, still remember when he used to be on the telly.
He continued: “They were just totally involved. They’d watch programmes like In The Night Garden. It was so nice to see those programmed meant as much to them as the ones from my childhood meant to me.
“The telly was Grace’s way of saying goodnight to me when I was working as I’d say goodnight during Bedtime Hour.”
Mr Winters says that Grace used to get excited about her father being on the TV.
“When I first started, we were in the park and she just turns to the kid in the swing next to us and said ‘My Dad is on CBeebies.,” he said.
Now, Mr Winters said because Grace is a teenager, she finds her Dad’s time on television embarrassing, especially when friends of hers get excited when they meet him.
Mr Winters also praised the staff who work behind the scenes and how exciting it was to be on set.
He said: “It was my dream job. We were never caught up in the office work, all the boring stuff. We’d just turn up on set and go through what the schedule was for the day.
“CBeebies was fun, educational and humorous. Since then it’s just got better and better.”
