91Èȱ¬

Ade Adepitan MBE was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1973. He contracted polio as a baby and lost much of the use of his legs as a result. In 1976 Ade moved to the UK, where he has remained, making London his home and becoming one of Britain's most recognisable disabled sports and TV personalities.

Playing wheelchair basketball for Britain, Ade won bronze at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games and gold in 2005 at the inaugural Paralympic World Cup in Manchester. In the same year he was a participant on 91Èȱ¬ documentary Beyond Boundaries, where he hiked through Nicaragua with a team of fellow disabled adventurers.

Ade has been a TV presenter since 1999, with credits including children's television, travel programmes and sports shows. In the run-up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games, which he helped bring to the UK, Ade co-presents Channel 4's That Paralympic Show and also heads up a series of disability sport reports for The One Show.

Ahead of what he describes as his biggest job to date, as a flagship presenter on Channel 4's Paralympic coverage later this summer, Ade was bubbling over with anticipation as he answered 13 Questions.

My earliest memory is...
In a car, driving through lots of trees on the way to Lagos airport. I was three when my parents took me to the UK to give me the chance of better healthcare and a better life. I had thought I'd dreamed this image until I went back to Nigeria as an adult and visited our village.

The three words I'd use to describe myself are...
Thoughtful, ambitious and determined. When I saw wheelchair basketball at the 1984 Paralympics, I knew that i wanted to be part of team GB in the future. I have always wanted to be a TV presenter, but you don't see many black or disabled faces on screen, so I had to have a lot of determination and drive and take a lot of knocks before I finally got there. Now I just want to do a great job of the Channel 4 Paralympics coverage.

A little known fact about me is...
That I speak Spanish. I Lived in Spain for two years in the early '90s, playing basketball professionally. It is really helpful. You'd be amazed at how many countries in the world speak the language. And if someone can't speak English, they usually speak Spanish.

Given half a chance I'd relish the opportunity to bore you about ...
My obsession with Game of Thrones. It's like a soap opera, but it also really sparks your imagination about what people got up to in medieval times. I grew up with Doctor Who and am a big sci-fi and fantasy geek.

I can't resist...
Buying the latest gadgets. I have to avoid reading too many technology magazines so that I don't purchase too many. I am particularly obsessed with wireless stuff because I hate how all the wires from my TV and sound system turn into a maze of craziness.

I want to ban...
Dances like the Macarena and YMCA. Bring back the hokey-cokey and make it the London 2012 official dance. It is a good old fashioned decent dance move and we should share it with the world.

The thing I've done but would never do again is...
Probably the London Marathon. I did it in 2007 and would never attempt it again because it was hard and I didn't have time to prepare for it as well as I wanted to. As I was about to be interviewed afterwards, I bent down to put my shoes on and realised I couldn't. I had to get the journalist to do it for me.

Before I die I want to...
Have children. I want to pass on my experiences to another generation and it would be great to play sport with them. But I suppose they could end up being a complete pain and after a year I might be over the idea.

If I suddenly became able-bodied I would...
I don't think there are many things that ABs can do that disabled people can't. In fact, I see us as the next stage in evolution.
Becoming able-bodied would therefore be a regression, a backward step. Instead of becoming able-bodied, I'd rather become a superhero and fly.

Someone should invent...
A microchip that you could inject into your head, which would allow you to go online with just your brain.

My ideal dinner guest would be...
God. He knows everything. He'd answer all your questions. It would be better than Google.

London 2012 will be...
The greatest Paralympics ever because it is coming back to its home. The British public, LOCOG and Channel 4 have ensured that it will have a higher profile than ever before. I am ready to burst with excitement, but am pacing myself as there is a long way to go. If I were to be high and euphoric all the way through, I would burn out.

After the Games this year, Paralympic sport will be...
On the minds of everyone in the UK. I'd like many more disability sports clubs to spring up around the UK and lots more disabled people feeling confident about who they are. I hope to see disability sport mentioned more in the mainstream, in the papers, on TV. Finally, I'd like to see the athletes earning money and having contracts and prominent sponsors.

• Ade Adepitan's official website can be found at