Sophie Ellis-Bextor jokes schoolmates still owe her cash for flogged Blue Peter badges
Sophie Ellis-Bextor sold some of her coveted Blue Peter badges at school, but not all of the buyers paid.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor joked she is still owed money for the Blue Peter badges she flogged at school.
The 47-year-old singer-songwriter's mum, Janet Ellis, co-hosted the CBBC children's show from 1983 until 1987, and Sophie is surprised how many badges - earned by appearing on the show or for an achievement - she has treasured after all these years.
On Friday (22.05.26), the Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker posted a shot of the different variations of the coveted award in her hand to Instagram, with the caption: "Honestly did not realise how many of these I own.
"See, Ma @missjanetellis I didn’t sell ALL of them in the school playground! Also, some folk out there still owe me 50p (sic)."
Sophie's Blue Peter badge collection would have been bigger if it were not for selling them at school.
In March 2014, she told The Guardian: "I've got a few. I used to have more, but I kept selling them in the playground.
"In fact, I've got a Blue Peter badge that my mum doesn't have, because it's a special one you get for going on the show twice for two separate reasons."
Janet, 70, joked that Sophie and her husband, musician Richard Jones' children - Sonny, 22, Kit, 17, Ray, 14, Jesse, 10 and seven-year-old Micky - refused to believe she ever hosted the programme due to her age.
In May 2024, Janet laughed as she told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "My grandsons don’t believe I was on it. They can’t believe I ever did it, because they think, ‘Why would they let old people on?'"
Last August, Anthea Turner, 65, who co-presented Blue Peter from 1992 to 1994, received the prestigious Gold Blue Peter badge more than 30 years after her final episode.
Hosts Abby Cook, Shini Muthukrishnan, both 24, and 29-year-old Joel Mawhinney - who quit earlier this year - as well as Hacker T Dog presented Anthea with the accolade, which recognises her role in "inspiring the nation’s children".
Anthea said: "I have coveted the golden Blue Peter badge for so many years and never got one - and now they’ve put this right.
"All these years I’ve been without one, and at every Blue Peter event I’ve hoped I would get one. It’s now even become a standing joke. So this is my proudest moment, and I won’t forget it."
