Having not quite made it as a bobsleigh athlete, Radzi Chinyanganya’s career could have gone down a slippery slope. But he soon got back to high ground and has now become a familiar face for snooker fans, particularly as the anchor of Triple Crown events on Eurosport. We caught up with Radzi to find out more about his fascinating journey.
First of all Radzi, how did you first get into the television business?
“I was a failed skeleton bobsleigh athlete. I was trying to qualify for the Winter Olympics in 2014 and didn’t manage it. I decided to chase one last unicorn and that was television. It was a real journey for me, which included working for free and I was living in a hostel at the time. I got a job as a runner for CBeebies in Media City in Manchester. At the time, CBBC were looking for two new presenters for a programme called Wild. It was about animals and adventure. They wanted somebody from an extreme sport background and because I’d done bobsleigh, I ticked that box. I got the job and it was a gamechanger. Off the back of that, I went to Blue Peter and that was an absolute privilege. It allowed me to stop living in a hostel, gave me a salary and gave me the job I’d have wanted to do at the age of ten.”
Tell us about some of the best things you got to do with Blue Peter?
“I got to do a few challenges which will live with me forever, like solo skydiving with the RAF Falcons. That was the most remarkable and surreal experience I will ever have. I got to climb the world’s highest man-made climbing wall, which is a dam in Switzerland called the Diga di Luzzone. All you are thinking about is don’t get so tired that you can’t carry on and don’t bottle it! It is unbelievable when you look down and see how far it is. I walked from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama, which was the same journey that Martin Luther King made in 1965. To follow in a historical icon’s footsteps was overwhelming. The people I met along the way were wonderful. Blue Peter was the best training ground ever from a TV perspective and then from a personal standpoint it has given me a lifetime of memories.”
How did you originally start working on snooker?
“My connection to snooker came directly through Blue Peter. We decided to do a world record attempt with Steve Davis and Ken Doherty at the World Championship. That led to the opportunity to work on the coverage. I was in the back of their mind and eventually I got to do a bit of reporting, then presented some of the morning coverage on BBC Four. After that, I was asked by Eurosport to anchor their Triple Crown coverage and I bit their hand off. It has been an amazing journey of late nights, shouting at screens, working with people like Alan McManus, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds and it has been the most brilliant ride. I used to watch snooker at my granny’s house in Dundee. The only rule in her house was that you had to support the Scottish player! That generally meant Hendry, Higgins, McManus and Dott. The idea that I would get to speak to these colossal figures and that they might know my name is incredible. The ten-year-old Radzi wouldn’t have believed that. I love snooker and it is an honour to be a part of it. I’m lucky to work in a lot of sports, but the snooker community is unique and special.”
You were presenting in the studio for a famously emotional interview, when Ronnie O’Sullivan won his seventh World Championship title in 2022. What was that like?
“The Ronnie O’Sullivan interview is up there with my career highlights. To have him in the studio, in that moment, was amazing. A lot of credit has to go to Jimmy White and his relationship with Ronnie. He sees Jimmy as a brother, so he feels safe. He also works with us at Eurosport and is our friend. When he sits there, he doesn’t have to act or feel awkward. It was an incredible moment to be a part of. I didn’t want it to be an attempt to provoke emotion. That was never the aim. He had the embrace with Judd, his family were there, his dad was there, the documentary crew were there. So much was happening and the release was tangible. We ended the show, went off air and as the titles were rolling we showed a montage of the event. We turned the sound up so Ronnie could hear it. He broke down again and I was watching my mate and someone who I grew up idolising, pour out all of his emotions. It was a true joy to do the interview and see what it meant to him.”
What do you try to bring to the coverage when you are presenting?
“You have to be in the mindset that you are no longer Radzi the fan. My job is to figure out what the fan might want to hear. There is a lot going on and a lot being said in your earpiece that the viewer doesn’t know about. Sometimes there are VTs ready to show the player, sometimes there aren’t. You could be speaking to the pundits, but you are waiting to get confirmation on when the player is arriving. We have to try and hit the timing so that the narrative arc is right when they arrive. As a live sport anchor, there is a lot going on. You are simultaneously enjoying this incredible ringside seat, but you are acutely aware that because it is a privilege, you have to bring value.”
