Blue Peter's 'Here's One We Made Earlier' was an accident

One of the first presenters of Blue Peter accidentally came up with the idea of making things on the children's television show from scraps around the house, she has said.

By Stephen Adams, Arts Correspondent

Former beauty queen Leila Williams casually told her boss how she had made a doll's patchwork quilt for a friend's daughter from dress off-cuts, when he pounced on the idea.

Now 71, she recalled: "My landlord's daughter had received a doll's pram for Christmas and she wanted all the stuff to go with it. I took her around London but could not find anything.

"So I made blankets, sheets and a patchwork quilt with off-cuts from the bottom of my dresses. I mentioned this to John Hunter-Blair, who came up with the idea for Blue Peter, and he said 'Get in a taxi and bring them here now!' "

The item became a staple on the show, which is the longest running children's programme in the world.

The phrase "here's one we made earlier" - announced when a presenter is making an object on air - has fallen into the language.

Williams first presented the show on 16 October 1958 with Christopher Trace, a year after being crowned Miss GB.

Read the full article in The Telegraph