Alex is presenting at the Paralympics for C4 © Channel 4
JMU Journalism graduate Alex Brooker started his Paralympics presenting career with a double scoop, as he interviewed Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson live on Channel 4.
Alex, who graduated from LJMU in 2006, is one of the faces of Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics, having earned his place on the presenting team after entering the ‘Half a Million Quid Talent Search’ two years ago.
He was at the Olympic Stadium to help introduce the opening ceremony, and faced a couple of political heavyweights before proceedings got underway.
PM Cameron told Alex: “I think it’s going to be a great night. It’s going to be the biggest ever Paralympics – the tickets are a sell-out and that’s not happened before.
“It’s about the inspiration and it will change people’s minds and that’s what matters. It’ll teach people about what they can do, rather than what they can’t do.”
PM David Cameron chats to Alex Brooker © Channel 4
Next up was London Mayor Boris Johnson, who told Alex: “It’s extraordinary – attitudes have changed in over the last 10-20 years and people know it’s incredible to watch. There is a real appetite for it, and the excitement has teed it up brilliantly.
“I went to Beijing and I watched the wheelchair basketball. It was incredible and that’s what got me into it. Everybody will see athletes who have trained for years and are incredibly talented.”
Alex, 27, managed a cheeky question for the gaffe-prone mayor, asking him if he was due to appear swinging down one of the stadium’s zip-lines, repeating his antics when he got stuck on one during the Olympics, but Johnson said he was not.
You can follow Alex, who has also worked for the Press Association, on Channel 4’s exclusive coverage of the Paralympics, which run until September 9th.
I realise that, given the celebratory atmosphere surrounding the fantastic start to the Paralympics, now is not the time to dwell on this but…..am I the only person listening to Boris Johnson’s interview with Alex who heard him (Boris)distinguish between wheelchair basketball and “real” basketball? It seemed that even he realised his gaffe so corrected himself and replaced ‘real’ with ‘ordinary’ – not sure whether that was any better. Alex gamely ignored this in line with the spirit of the event but it seemed to me that was the real coup of the interview. I couldn’t believe my ears but haven’t been able to find a rerun of the interview to check that’s what I heard. Did he actually say this? I will happily be corrected if I’m wrong.