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Janet Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the children's television programmes Blue Peter and Jigsaw between 1979 and 1987. She has published two novels, The Butcher's Hook (2016) and How It Was (2019). She is the mother of three children: singer/songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, musician and former child actor Jackson Ellis-Leach and art historian Martha Ellis-Leach.
Having expressed an interest in acting since the age of five, she applied to and was accepted by the Central School of Speech and Drama in London but because she was too young, her place was deferred for a year. She spent the year gaining experience of the acting world by working backstage at the Comedy Theatre in central London.
She has a sister, Sharon, who is two years her junior.
Her big break came in 1979, when she landed the job of regular presenter of the Clive Doig-produced Jigsaw. Also that year she played the character of "Teka" in the Doctor Who story The Horns of Nimon. After four series in Jigsaw Ellis left to join Blue Peter on 28 April 1983. During her four-year stint, she co-presented with Simon Groom, Sarah Greene, Peter Duncan, Michael Sundin, Mark Curry and Caron Keating. During the run, she became the first civilian woman in Europe to Parachute from – but not before breaking her pelvis during training. Her last show was on 29 June 1987. It is sometimes claimed that Ellis was sacked from the programme for being unmarried and pregnant with son Jackson, but in recent years Ellis has stated that she was fully supported by the Blue Peter production team and the decision to leave the programme was her own.
In January 2007, Ellis appeared on the BBC reality singing show Just the Two of Us partnered with Alexander O'Neal. Despite being 'saved' by Stewart Copeland on the first night, on 3 January 2007 she was the second celebrity to be eliminated, after judge CeCe Sammy described her as having the vocal characteristics of "a cat on speed". Ellis managed to show good humour in the face of the defeat, stating that she had had "fun, a lot of fun".
In May 2008, she appeared naked in a magazine in support of PETA News of the World Fabulous magazine, issue 14, 4 May 2008 and in June of the same year she won The Weakest Link Blue Peter celebrity charity special. She donated the winnings of £13,150 to Maggie's Centres, a cancer care charity.
In December 2009, Ellis narrated The Man Behind the Masquerade, a BBC documentary about Kit Williams. She was the voice of numerous Mexican gerbils in El Nombre, and has appeared on BBC's Antiques Road Trip with daughter Sophie; Bargain Hunt and Cash in the Attic.
In December 2010, Janet and her daughter Sophie appeared on Channel 4's The Million Pound Drop Live. Also shown on Channel 4 on 22 December 2010, Ellis competed in the Come Dine with Me celebrity Christmas special. The winner's prize of £1,000 was donated to charity. Ellis won, beating singer Tony Christie and actress Susie Amy into joint second place, with musician and actor Goldie bringing up the rear.
In January 2012 Ellis returned to her first love of acting by starring in a production of Alan Bennett's comedy play Green Forms for a week at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick in order to raise money for Maggie's Centres.
In 2018 Ellis wrote an opinion piece in The Guardian newspaper in which she characterised Blue Peter as offering "...a view of a world worth growing up in".
Ellis appeared in a play, Once Seen on Blue Peter, at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival. Her second novel, How It Was, was published in August 2019.
In 2025 Ellis was one of the judges of the 'Unpublished Novel' category of the Comedy Women in Print Prize.
Ellis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to charity and theatre.
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