Janet Ellis

Janet Ellis

Janet Michell Ellis, MBE is an English television presenter, actress and writer. She is best known for presenting the children’s television programmes Blue Peter and Jigsaw between 1979 and 1987. She has published two novels, The Butcher’s Hook and How It Was. Ellis is the mother of the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the drummer Jackson Ellis-Leach.

About Janet Ellis in brief

Summary Janet EllisJanet Michell Ellis, MBE is an English television presenter, actress and writer. She is best known for presenting the children’s television programmes Blue Peter and Jigsaw between 1979 and 1987. She has published two novels, The Butcher’s Hook and How It Was. Ellis is the mother of the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the drummer Jackson Ellis-Leach and the art historian Martha Ellis- Leach. She also has a sister, Sharon, who is two years younger than her. Ellis’s first television appearance in 1978 was a small role in the BBC’s children’s programme Jackanory Playhouse. Her big break came in 1979, when she landed the job of regular presenter of the Clive Doig-produced Jigsaw. After four series in Jigsaw Ellis left to join Blue Peter on 28 April 1983.

Her last show was on 29 June 1987. It is commonly believed that Ellis was sacked from the programme for being unmarried and pregnant with son Jackson, but in recent years Ellis has stated that she was fully supported by the Blue Peter production team and the decision to leave the programme was her own. In January 2007, Ellis appeared on the BBC reality singing show Just the Two of Us partnered with Alexander O’Neal. Despite being’saved’ by Stewart Copeland on the first night, on 3 January 2007 she was the second celebrity to be eliminated, after judge CeCe Sammy described her as having the vocal characteristics of \”a cat on speed\”. Ellis managed to show good humour in the face of the defeat, stating that she had had “a lot of fun”