# Tessa Sanderson on screen and stage

Tessa Sanderson CBE (born 14 March 1956) is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in 1984, and becoming the second track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics. She is the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Since 1979, Sanderson has appeared as a guest on numerous television shows as a guest. When Sky News was launched in 1989, Sanderson was a sports reporter for the channel, and she co-hosted ITV's Surprise Surprise with Cilla Black.
The quiz programme Sporting Triangles featured Sanderson as a regular team captain in 1987 and 1988, but she was not asked to return in 1989. She noted that in the new series of the show, all three team captains were footballers, and felt that replacing her with Emlyn Hughes reduced the variety in the show, also claiming that she had ignored invitations to guest on the new series.
Announcing that Sanderson would be a reporter on Sky News, covering all sports and not only athletics, Sky's Head of News John O'Loan said that she had been selected "because her sporting credentials are excellent. On top of that, she has a sparkling personality and she is very intelligent." Sanderson was one of around 30 journalists and reporters on the channel when Sky News launched in February 1989. In April of that year, the Birmingham Evening Mail's Paul Cole praised Sanderson's "outspoken enthusiasm" and willingness to express her opinions frankly. David Powell of The Times wrote in 1996 that by the time she started on Sky News, "Sanderson, who appeared in Los Angeles as a curly-haired, round-faced, non-sexy athlete, had realised the benefits of developing her femininity" and that "Her name and make-up survived a two-year battle against her uncomfortable delivery before she was made redundant." Six years earlier, Sanderson had told Powell that her role at Sky was not as lucrative as people might expect, and that some athletes were earning more than she was as a presenter, which was one reason she had decided against retiring from athletics. Sanderson starred in the fitness videos Cardiofunk (1990) and Body Blitz (c. 1992) with Derrick Evans, later known as Mr. Motivator.
During the 1990s, Sanderson appeared in pantomime several time. She twice played Girl Friday in Robinson Crusoe, and was also The Genie in Aladdin and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella . Justin Cartwright in The Sunday Telegraph, discussing Sanderson's pantomime debut in 1990, wrote that "She plays the whole thing with an amiable smile and the air of someone trying not to bump into the furniture." Her fellow cast member Peter Byrne was quoted by Cartwright as saying that Sanderson was "a natural ... the camera loves her". According to Robin Thornber of The Guardian, the casting of Sanderson, with Russell Grant and Evadne Hinge, proved commercially successful. A Daily Telegraph piece by Robert Gore-Langton praised Sanderson's 1994–95 performance, again as Girl Friday, as "marvellous", while Christopher Day of The Stage wrote that she "seemed confidently at ease in panto". In 1993, Sanderson and snooker player Dennis Taylor were Babes in the Wood in a pantomime edition of Big Break Christmas Special on BBC1.
Performing a "traditional 'dance celebrating the return home of the menfolk'" on the 2005 Strictly African Dancing special, part of the BBC's Africa Lives season, she was ranked third by viewers. In 2009, she was paired with Ron Atkinson on Celebrity Wife Swap. Atkinson had previously resigned from his role as a television football commentator after making a racist remark about Marcel Desailly in 2004. The episode attracted 1.9 million viewers. In 2012, Sanderson appeared in "Billy's Olympic Nightmare", a BBC Red Button episode of soap opera EastEnders,

## Appearances
### Television and radio

Tessa Sanderson's television and radio appearances (on UK TV, unless otherwise noted) :
| Year | Programme | Role |
| 1979 | The Superstars: The Women's Championship | participant |
| 1979 | A Question of Sport | participant |
| 1979 | We Were the Champions | interviewee |
| 1982 | We Are the Champions | guest |
| 1983 | Speak Out | guest |
| 1984 | Pot the Question | participant |
| 1984 | Punchlines | participant |
| 1984 | The Saturday Picture Show | guest |
| 1984 | Crackerjack | guest |
| 1984 | Bullseye | participant |
| 1984 | The Krypton Factor Olympic Celebrity Special | participant |
| 1984 | I've Got a Secret | guest |
| 1985 | Blankety Blank | guest |
| 1986 | Tessa Sanderson | participant |
| 1987 | Sporting Triangles (2 episodes) | participant |
| 1987 | The Grand Knockout Tournament | participant |
| 1987 | Through the Keyhole | participant |
| 1988 | Which School and Why? | participant |
| 1988 | Sporting Triangles (3 episodes) | cast member |
| 1989 | Special Awards Presentation | participant |
| 1989 | Sunday Sunday | guest |
| 1989 | Sky News | sports reporter |
| 1989 | Celebrity Wheel of Fortune | participant |
| 1989 | Grand Final | participant |
| 1989 | Tessa Sanderson | subject |
| 1990 | Afternoon | participant |
| 1990 | Telethon – Thanks to You | participant |
| 1990 | Bullying | participant |
| 1990 | On the Line | participant |
| 1991 | Get Up, Stand Up | participant |
| 1991 | Busman's Holiday Celebrity Special | participant |
| 1991 | Visions | participant |
| 1991 | Catchphrase Celebrity Special | participant |
| 1992 | TV Squash | guest |
| 1992 | This Is Your Life | subject |
| 1992 | Surprise Surprise (3 episodes) | host |
| 1993 | Cyberzone | host |
| 1993 | Benn V Eubank: Round One – The Best of Enemies | guest |
| 1993 | Inside Info | participant |
| 1993 | Celebrity Squares | guest |
| 1993 | The Real McCoy | participant |
| 1993 | Going for Gold | presenter |
| 1993 | Cluedo (episode: The Hanged Man) | participant |
| 1993 | Big Break Christmas Special | guest |
| 1994 | Capital Woman | presenter |
| 1995 | They Think It's All Over | participant |
| 1996 | Win, Lose or Draw | participant |
| 1996 | Noel's Telly Years | participant |
| 1996 | Sunday Matters | participant |
| 1996 | Desert Island Discs (radio) | guest |
| 1997 | Ha Bloody Ha | participant |
| 1997 | Night Fever – Abba Special | participant |
| 1999 | h&p@bbc | participant |
| 2002 | The Essential...Daley Thompson | participant |
| 2003 | Russell Grant's Sporting Scandals | participant |
| 2005 | Trisha Goddard (2 episodes) | participant |
| 2005 | Big Brother's Little Brother | guest |
| 2005 | The Wright Stuff | panellist |
| 2006 | Strictly African Dancing | participant |
| 2006 | The Wright Stuff | panellist |
| 2007 | What the World Thinks of God | guest |
| 1999 | Antiques Roadshow | participant |
| 2009 | Celebrity Wife Swap | participant |
| 2010 | Cash in the Celebrity Attic | participant |
| 2010 | Celebrity MasterChef | participant |
| 2011 | Celebrity Eggheads | participant |
| 2012 | Celebrity Antiques Road Trip | participant |
| 2012 | EastEnders: Billy's Olympic Nightmare | herself |
| 2012 | A Question of Sport | participant |
| 2012 | Dotun Adebayo (radio) | participant |
| 2012 | Dancing on Ice Goes Gold | participant |
| 2015 | Who's Doing the Dishes? | participant |
| 2016 | Pointless Celebrities | participant |
| 2015 | All Star Mr & Mrs | participant |
| 2016 | Pointless Celebrities (2 episodes) | participant |
| 2016 | A Question of Sport | participant |
| 2019 | The Junk Food Experiment | participant |
| 2016 | Tenable All Stars | participant |
| 2018 | Celebrity 5 Go Barging | participant |
| 2019 | Sink Or Swim For Stand Up To Cancer | participant |
| 2020 | Bargain Hunt: Newmarket 31 (Sport Relief Special) | participant |
| 2021 | Celebrity River Cruising in France | participant |

### Pantomime

Pantomime appearances by Tessa Sanderson :
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 1990–91 | Robinson Crusoe | Girl Friday | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford |
| 1991–92 | Aladdin | The Genie | Brighton Dome |
| 1994–95 | Robinson Crusoe | Girl Friday | Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth |
| 1995–96 | Cinderella | Fairy Godmother | Lewisham Theatre |