Ainsley Harriott shares his thoughts on diversity in the TV industry (Picture: BBC)
Ainsley Harriott, Ore Oduba, and NoLay have all made an impact on the world of TV in their own ways, but once upon a time, they were just three young people sitting in their respective living rooms and watching programmes where they felt represented.
After school Ore and his three siblings, who have Nigerian heritage, would gather in front of the TV and watch the newest episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air while eating their dinner of jacket potatoes and beans.
This meant that long before he lifted the glitterball trophy on Strictly Come Dancing, Ore, 37, was performing the Carlton dance at school discos.
Ore has nothing but fond memories of watching Will Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and is reflecting on the series’ impact on his life for Black History Month.
‘It was the first show we all collectively enjoyed. It was funny and warm, and it was about a family who looked very similar to our family so we all kind of related to it.
‘It was a Black family, who were aspirational. They were wealthy and doing well for themselves in a nice house. It was a depiction that I hadn’t seen before.
Will Smith played the lead character in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Picture: © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.)
‘I think it’s one of the few times, even to this day, we’ve had a TV show with an all-Black cast shown on British TV. I don’t think it’s been repeated to the same level.
‘It really connected with me. I wasn’t necessarily thinking “Oh there’s a Black family, we’re a Black family” but it was refreshing to see something relatable. It really felt like when I turned on the telly I was a part of it, and everything they were saying was real.’
The programme felt so real to Ore that he found it confusing that Will Smith the character wasn’t Will Smith the actor.
‘He was colourful, he was cool, and I felt a bit like him as I was also the joker – although much less naughty.’
Ore continued to list similarities: ‘My dad was a lawyer, as was Will’s Uncle Phil, who looked after him. He had a very strict father figure, and so did I. He was one of few Black kids at a predominately white school, and that was my experience too.’
The series always nailed the comedy element – Ore still laughs at Will’s ‘high-pitched scream’ while burning down the kitchen in an attempt to make a flambe – but the series also addressed bigger issues.
Ore spotted similarities (Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)
Class and race are regular themes throughout its six-year run – Will and Carlton get unfairly treated and arrested while driving a borrowed Mercedes, the cousins argue about whether white people should be allowed to sing the racial slur n****r, and Will shows the hardship of having an absent father, to name a few.
While Ore ‘didn’t pick up on deeper meanings,’ he added: ‘It felt really authentic and important, and it probably made me feel ways that I hadn’t before at that age.’
Ore looks forward to one day watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with sons Roman, four, and Genie, one.
‘So much of it still stands today. It hasn’t aged like other shows,’ he explained.
‘If me and my sons can do the theme tune rap together, and bring it out at a party that would make me very happy.’
Young (and present-day) Ore is also a big fan of Ainsley Harriott. ‘Ainsley was one of the first Black people I saw presenting on Ready, Steady, Cook. He was an amazing character, and very engaging. He opened lots of doors for many people. He deserves a shout-out for me.’
Ainsley, pictured here with James Martin and Anne Robinson, hosted Ready Steady Cook (Picture: BBC ONE)
Ainsley, 66, is certainly an icon of British TV and being from a slightly older generation than Ore, the chance to see himself on screen was even fewer.
‘The TV shows were predominantly white when I was growing up. There was a Black actor called Earl Cameron, and when we saw him on TV, we would all scream at the top of our lungs with excitement,’ he recalled.
The TV chef also has fond memories of watching Nichelle Nichols as Uhura in Star Trek. A role so ground-breaking that the late Michelle once revealed Martin Luther King asked her to stay on the sci-fi series when she considered leaving, as he thought the impact of having a Black woman on the series was too vital.
‘Nichelle Nichols was so important. I would hear my mom and all our friends talking about her at the kitchen table,’ Ainsley, who has Jamaican heritage, shared.
‘”Did you see how she did her hair this week?”‘ mimicked Ainsley during our interview.
In one 1968 episode, Ushura kissed Captain Kirk in one of the first interracial kisses on TV.
At the time NBC executives worried the moment would anger certain TV stations, and so two versions of the scene were shot – in the first version Kirk and Uhura kissed, and in the second version they didn’t.
The actors purposefully messed up the second version so their kiss would be shown, and that act of defiance impacted Ainsley.
‘I haven’t rewatched the kiss for years, but I can still remember the feeling of seeing it.
‘I don’t think I’d heard my mum swear before that point. She could not believe it. It was bloody unbelievable. A black woman and a white man kissing on TV.
‘Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable,’ shared an increasingly excited Ainsley.
Kirk and Uhura’s kiss on Star Trek was ground-breaking for the world and in the Harriott household
In the same way, Ushura and Captain Kirk hold a special place in Ainsley’s heart, Tia and Tamera do the same for NoLay.
Every Saturday morning between ages eight and 13, NoLay, real name Natalie Athanasiou, would sit in front of the small screen at her home in Croydon and switch on her ultimate favourite programme – Sister Sister.
NoLay, now 37, would love catching up on the antics of twin sisters Tia and Tamera, who found each other as teenagers after a chance meeting in a department store.
After moving in together with their respective adoptive parents we saw them navigate school, dating, quirky parents and, of course, the constant advances of Roger.
But one thing particularly stood out to NoLay: ‘I looked forward to every single episode. I found some solace and peace in seeing them on screen as it was the first time I saw someone mixed.
‘They looked like me,’ she simply summarised.
NoLay has struggled with her identity as a mixed-race woman (Picture: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
‘I had seen shows in the past where it was white people or Black people, but they were mixed just like me, and that stood out from the first episode.’
NoLay, who is Greek-Cypriot and Caribbean, remembers one element of their appearance reflected her own.
‘Their hair was just like mine,’ NoLay, who played Mandy in Netflix’s Top Boy, recalled.
‘I used to get really upset with my mum when she would afro-comb my hair out and tell me that I had to go to school with it like that, as she thought it looked lovely. I really didn’t at the time, but now I can see that it did.
‘I went to a school that was predominantly white, I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. But seeing Tia and Tamara I guess made me feel more special.
Tia and Tamera made NoLay feel represented (Picture: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Her love for the characters was even reflected in her wardrobe.
‘I even wanted to dress like them. I remember going out and buying the hat they wore with a flower on the front.’
Things weren’t always easy for NoLay, and so having a TV show that made her feel seen and represented mixed joy can’t be underestimated.
‘Back then, I was referred to as half-cast. Now it’s seen as politically incorrect, but then it was the best option. I don’t even remember there being the term mixed race.
‘Kids would call me n****r or p**i. I don’t even like saying it now.
NoLay played Mandy in Top Boy (Picture: Ali Painter/Netflix)
‘It was only a small number of children, and always outside of school when we were playing out, but those things do stick with you.’
NoLay could often feel she didn’t know where she stood in terms of her identity – an experience not unusual for people who are mixed race.
‘Even now I get Black people saying you don’t understand our struggles as you have light-skinned privilege. We might have privilege in some areas, but when you’re mixed race you don’t know where you stand. That was the struggle for me. It can be really confusing.
‘Me and my sister would say we were Black. Once you have melanin in your skin that is what you are, but then it could feel like I was dismissing one side of my heritage, and it’s like mum doesn’t exist so I don’t like to say that.’
On top of battling with her identity, NoLay had to contend with other teenage issues which meant one episode of Sister Sister particularly resigntaed.
‘My favourite episode is when Tia has a spot on her face, so sent Tamera in her place on a date.
‘I was breaking out too, and it felt like a lot when I was struggling with my identity anyway. It was nice to see someone else going through it.’
‘Thinking about it again has triggered something in me,’ NoLay said, her voice implying that memories of its impact are only now coming to the surface.
Ainsley never saw the lack of representation as a barrier (Picture: David M. Benett//Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
When you don’t see people who look like you doing the occupation you dream of, it can be harder to envisage yourself in that position, but Ainsley didn’t see the lack of representation as a barrier when pursuing a career himself. However, he did find himself adapting to fit the environment.
‘A lot of my generation – the Lenny Henrys of the world, and Charlie Williams, we just had to fit in otherwise you didn’t work. You had to make the best of what was given to you.
‘I couldn’t come in and be my normal Black rootsy self.’
He continued: ‘I wasn’t actually conscious of the fact that I was changing. I was just fitting in and doing whatever felt right. I know that sounds a bit strange, but it was just what you had to do.
‘I was always taught that in order to succeed as a Black person, you have to be twice as good as everyone else so I worked very hard.’
In Ainsley’s three decades in show business, he’s seen positive change behind the scenes but still gets excited when he sees real diversity.
‘It’s changing,’ Ainsley shared in his usual joyous manner, before quickly adding: ‘But it’s a real slow-burner.’
‘I was doing a programme over the weekend and there were four Black faces on the crew. You don’t say anything but it makes you feel good.
‘I never used to see one.’
Top Boy ensured their cast and crew were diverse (Picture: Netflix)
NoLay got to experience working on Top Boy, where both the cast and crew were incredibly diverse.
‘What Top Boy has done is added diversity into the acting industry with the cast and the crew,’ she said.
‘A lot of TV companies put different people on screen to tick the box but to actually see it off-camera was amazing. It shows that there is a shift and I’m hopeful for the future.
‘I just hope that people watching Top Boy felt the way I felt when I watched Sister Sister.’
Ore was a presenter on Newsround (Credits: BBC)
For Ore, who started out on Newsround and was part of the first all-Black male panel on Loose Women, he is now leaning into being a role model.
He is currently playing Mr Thompson in the theatre show Pretty Woman, and seeing the audience each night has been eye-opening.
‘When I started working on TV I was in my 20s so I didn’t necessarily lean into the responsibility, but as I’ve grown up I have definitely thought about it more.
‘If somebody wants to do something that I’m doing I know it’s important that they can see me, or someone else, doing it.
‘There have been moments where I’ve been on stage with Pretty Woman and I’ve seen Black faces in the audience, and I’ve felt that what I’m doing is so important.
‘It’s almost like a hit to the heart. I know that I have to have to do what I’m doing.’
All three are in agreement on one thing too – while diversity and representation within the TV world are steadily improving, there’s still more that can be done so that every child feels seen and knows that their story is important and worth being told.
‘I want it to be completely normalised to see Black people on TV and people just see the talent.
‘There’s a lot of Black talent out there that hasn’t been tapped into and we need to see it,’ Ainsley concluded.
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