Meet Joel on Friday

Spookiness is very much in the air this week providing a much need respite from more challenging adult concerns this week in a very fast moving period in our countries political history.

Regular readers of this blog know I'm a superfan of Blue Peter from a very early age and so today I'm reporting on it.

On Tuesday it was announced County Down, Northern Ireland magician and social media star Joel Mawhinney has been appointed as the newest presenter of the BBC's Blue Peter.

The 25-year-old content creator, who was born in Bangor, becomes the 41st host of the long-running CBBC children's show.

Mawhinney will start in his new role on Friday 11 November, co-hosting alongside Richie Driss, Mwaka Mudenda and Henry the Dog.

He effectively replaces Adam Beale who left the show on July 15th as the third presenter.

He said: "Becoming the 41st Blue Peter presenter is a surreal and - dare I say it - magical experience.

"I've always loved making people smile with my magic and I want to do the same for the Blue Peter audience.

Having seen him fill in during the summer months on the show I am sure he'll succeeed on what is the shows 64th year that was marked earlier in the month..