Tessa Sanderson (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 Mails 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)YearProgrammeRole 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

Notes

References