90’s kids TV star has barely aged – three decades after hosting hit BBC show with EastEnders icon
90S KIDS TV star still looks youthful nearly 30 years after co-hosting a popular BBC show with an EastEnders icon.
British shopping television presenter and former children's TV personality Peter Simon looks as if he hasn’t aged a day since his debut on a popular kids' TV show in the 90s.
The 61-year-old is most famous for presenting the Double Dare (Going Live!) and Run the Risk (Live & Kicking) segments of the popular BBC1 Saturday morning children's shows.
He presented Run the Risk alongside EastEnders star Shane Richie.
Run the Risk is a British children's game show, which ran from 26 September 1992 to 28 December 1996. It was aired as part of the Saturday morning shows.
The games the teams had to do involved gunge and were similar to those performed on It's a Knockout.
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At the end of each question round, the team that had answered the highest-valued question correctly was given a choice to either "run the risk" by taking part in a timed stunt, or to force another team to "run the risk."
If the team "ran the risk," and completed the conditions of the stunt within the allotted time, the team would receive as many points as the highest-valued question in the round, plus a 20-point bonus for "running the risk" themselves.
If the team failed, the other two teams would each receive half of the points.
Should the team nominate another team, then there are no bonus points available, and the points go to the team "running the risk" , or the nominating team.
After that, the teams face the "Final Risk," an obstacle course.
Peter also worked on the children's TV show The Friday Zone, and he even interviewed the Spice Girls and Boyzone.
Peter made infrequent television appearances throughout the 2000s, including as celebrity client on Channel 4's The Salon (2003) and as a guest on ITV Play's The Mint (2006).
In the early 2000s, Peter toured Butlins holiday parks with a live stage version of Run the Risk.
Peter then left kids TV and went into presenting shopping channels.
He served as a permanent auctioneer on bid tv, a shopping channel owned by Bid Shopping (formerly known as 'Sit Up Ltd.')
Best 90s kids TV shows
Art Attack - From mini challenges and life-sized creations, to DIY tutorials and reading out fan mail, Neil Buchanan did it all.
Blue Peter - It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world having been broadcast since 1958. It follows a magazine/entertainment format, features viewer and presenter challenges, competitions, celebrity interviews, popular culture, and sections on making arts and crafts items from household items.
Grange Hill - BBC series about life in a typical comprehensive school in North London. Despite us living similar lives through the highs and lows at school, nothing felt better than coming home and humming along to the familiar theme tune. It covered bullying, homophobia, teenage pregnancy, and more. The '90s kids TV show ran for a whopping 30 years, launching in 1978 before ending in 2008.
Byker Grove - The famous comedy duo Ant and Dec actually began their television careers on "Byker Grove", a series about a group of young people who attend the Byker Grove Youth Centre in Newcastle.
Live & Kicking - heralded the start of the weekend on a Saturday morning. The kids TV show aired for over three hours every Saturday and featured interactive games, competitions, and cartoons.
Sooty & Co - Starring Matthew Corbett and his puppets Sooty, Sweep, Soo, and Scampi, the series followed the group's adventures as they try to run a bric-a-brac shop in Manchester.
ChuckleVision - followed brothers Barry and Paul Elliott, and their hilarious antics. The show had an impressive 21 seasons, resulting in a total of 292 episodes by the time it ended in 2008.
Brum - followed the adventures of an adorable little vintage car (named Brum), who lived in a motor museum.
Bid TV and Price Drop TV went into liquidation making all 229 employees redundant with immediate effect.
In November 2011, bid.tv launched a "Peter Simon Limited Edition Hand-Painted Resin Figurine" to commemorate Simon having been a presenter with the channel for 10 years.
He briefly joined Gems TV in May 2014 only to leave without explanation in June 2014.
Then he joined the ranks of Ideal World on 3 September 2014.
Peter was suspended from Ideal World in September 2018, following an on-air comment against Polish and Latvians in the UK. He was reinstated one month later.
In July 2023, Ideal World went into administration, ceasing all trading and broadcasting.
As a result of this, Peter was left without work. However in September 2023, Simon appeared alongside Marina Berry live on the TJC shopping channel.
This marked the first time that Simon and Berry had worked together or been seen alongside one another since their roles on Bid TV some 10 years earlier.
Later in September 2023, Ideal World was bought out by TJC, resulting in Simon's return to the channel in September 2023.
Meanwhile, Shane Richie, now 60, has revealed there are some 'tragic and sad' events lined up for the EastEnders Christmas storylines.
The soap actor, who has been in EastEnders on and off since 2002, explained that the BBC cast are currently coming to the end of their Christmas filming and the storylines are set to stun viewers.
He revealed that he 'intentionally' didn't read the script, and has been left in shock as he filmed scenes that will air in the Christmas Day special.
Speaking to , Shane explained: "I sat there watching this story unfolding in the Queen Vic that happens on Christmas Day, and as a fan of the show anyway, I was like, 'Oh my God I can't believe this! Stop!'"
He continued: "I had to do a line and I kept messing it up because I was so taken in with that the storyline that was happening."
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As he added that viewers are "in for a treat" on Christmas Day, he teased that the new storylines will leave BBC viewers in shock.
Whilst he couldn't spill the beans on exactly what will go down on December 25, he did sum up the events with four simple words: "Deceit, tragic and sad."