Newsreader Clive Myrie tells how he refused to be pigeonholed by BBC

Veteran newsreader Clive Myrie has told how he avoided being pigeonholed in his career by refusing to report on the Notting Hill Carnival.

He insisted to BBC bosses in 1994 that he did not want to be seen as ‘a black reporter’, but ‘a reporter who just happens to be black’.

Speaking at the Hay literature festival yesterday, Myrie, 59, said: ‘There was discussion in the newsroom [about] who was going to cover Notting Hill Carnival and I thought, “Hang on a minute, you ain’t sending the one black guy”.

‘I’m not going to allow the BBC to dictate my career when I’m just starting out. I didn’t want the public to think I was only covering it because I was black and that was all I could do.

‘I made it clear it wasn’t going to be me… I don’t want lazy thinking from the BBC that black storytelling is riots – I didn’t want the BBC to be of that mindset.’

In 2021, the Bolton-born presenter of Jamaican descent was offered a prestigious role as the presenter of Mastermind when John Humphrys, the show’s host of 18 years, retired.

Veteran newsreader Clive Myrie (pictured, at the Hay Festival on Saturday) has told how he avoided being pigeonholed in his career by refusing to report on the Notting Hill Carnival

Speaking at the Hay literature festival yesterday, Myrie, 59, said: ‘There was discussion in the newsroom [about] who was going to cover Notting Hill Carnival and I thought, “Hang on a minute, you ain’t sending the one black guy” ‘ (pictured: Notting Hill Carnival in 2016)

‘I was very, very scared,’ Myrie said. ‘I didn’t realise how big of a deal it was… I walked into the newsroom and [newsreader] George Alagaih took me to one side and said, “Do you know how important it is that the BBC is willing to give one of its crown jewels to a person of colour?” ‘

Myrie added that his parents, who are of the Windrush generation, did not forgive him for becoming a journalist until he was chosen as question master.

‘They wanted me to do the right thing, so I studied law and got a place to become a barrister. But at the same time, I got an offer from the BBC to join them, and the rest is history,’ he said.

The broadcaster, who has been married to wife Catherine for 26 years, also said that if they had ever had children he would have raised them in the UK.

‘We have now a Hindi prime minister and had a Buddhist home secretary in Suella Braverman… the only place I would want to bring up my kids is here, because it’s so multicultural.’