Celebrity Big Brother star Angellica had worked in television for decades when two years ago, she was abruptly replaced on a popular ITV show she had worked on for six years
TV presenter Angellica Bell has been a familiar face on our screens for more than a quarter of a century. The star most recently appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, until her time in the house came to an end on Tuesday in a triple eviction with Patsy Palmer and Ella Rae Wise.
Despite her success, the star hasn’t always had it easy when it comes to her career, mostly notably being abruptly dropped from The Martin Lewis Money Show after six years. Angellica, 49, tearfully admitted in the Big Brother Diary Room the axing had taken a “long time to get over”.
“Before I came in here, I was a little bit scared,” she said. “The press were asking me if I would talk about the Martin Lewis show and stuff, it took me a long time to get over that.
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“I was so grateful to all of the audience who messaged me about it, also to other celebrities who contacted me and stuff because those messages are what got me through. That’s why I wanted to come onto this show and tap into my old self because it’s taken me a long time.”
Viewers had been left confused in 2023 when after six years on the acclaimed show, Angellica was bluntly informed that her presence was no longer needed on set and saw herself promptly replaced by the former Olympian turned broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye.
“Angellica is not working on the Martin Lewis Money Show Live,” an ITV statement confirmed. “However, the relationship with her remains amicable and we are working with her on other forthcoming programmes.”
A source told The Sun at the time: “Everyone is stunned by the move – no one saw it coming. Angellica has been an integral part of the show since 2017 so for her to be bumped off air with no warning is crazy. Staff have naturally been talking and find the whole thing really awkward and unfair, but Martin is trying to keep out of it as it wasn’t up to him.”
Thankfully, the talented presenter moved on to anchor Channel 5’s revamped edition of The Gadget Show – renamed Shop Smart, Save Money. Angellica’s career began as a roving reporter on Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast in the late 1990s, before she joined CBBC in 2000.
The presenter went onto anchor programmes including That’s Genius! and The Saturday Show before she left CBBC in 2006 to pursue mainstream adult programming. The following year, she teamed up with Alan Titchmarsh and James Martin to front The Great British Village Show and she presented Children In Need the same year.
Angellica’s varied TV CV includes guest presenting on The One Show in 2015 and winning Celebrity MasterChef in 2017, not to mention sailing on a Volvo 65 from Belfast to London for Sport Relief in 2016. Of her recent stint on Celebrity Big Brother, she said: “I’ve loved every minute, it’s probably the best thing I’ve done in a long time.”
The star was briefly married to personal trainer Stuart Amory and is now with her former BBC co-star Michael Underwood, who went onto retrain as a teacher. The couple, who live in South West London, wed in New York in 2010 and have a son and a daughter together.