{{Short description|British-Jamaican continuity announcer (born 1980)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|12|12}} | birth_place = Kingston, Jamaica | occupation = Continuity announcer and newsreader | boards = | education = Northern Caribbean University | alma_mater = London School of Journalism
| employer = BBC Radio 4;<br/> BBC World Service | website = }} '''Neil Nunes''' (born 12 December 1980) (pronounced {{IPAc-en|n|u:|n|ɛ|z}} ) is a British-Jamaican continuity announcer and newsreader on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom, and on the BBC World Service.
==Early life== Nunes was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and brought up in the parish of Manchester in the west-central part of the island.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3cJGDNb51qH08rlkkC75qg8/neil-nunes |title=Neil Nunes|website=Radio 4 {{!}} Six O'Clock News|publisher=BBC |access-date=13 April 2025}}</ref>
==Career== While studying for a degree in biology at Northern Caribbean University, Nunes became involved with the university radio station as a presenter. He went on to work as a newsreader and reporter for radio networks in the Dutch Caribbean, while at the same time serving as a correspondent for the BBC Caribbean Service.<ref name="BBC"/> He studied as a postgraduate at the London School of Journalism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Student Case Study - Neil N {{!}} London School of Journalism |url=https://www.lsj.org/case-studies/neil+n |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=www.lsj.org}}</ref>
He began working as a freelance announcer on BBC Radio 4 in 2006. Initially, he suffered criticism from some listeners for his Caribbean accent,<ref>{{cite news |first=Terry |last=Kirby|author-link=Terry Kirby |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/voice-from-jamaica-divides-radio-4-listeners-5544381.html |title=Voice from Jamaica divides Radio 4 listeners |work=The Independent |date=31 March 2006 |access-date=24 January 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8304155/Who-has-the-most-irritating-radio-voice.html |title=Who has the most irritating radio voice? |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |first=Tim|last=Walker|date=5 February 2011 |access-date=5 July 2013 }}</ref> but was robustly defended by others on the programme ''Feedback''. He is now a well-established announcer, and since November 2017 also reads the news.
Nunes joined the BBC World Service as a producer and presenter of current affairs programmes. He also reads world news bulletins on the World Service in addition to his Radio 4 continuity work. He also features as "Narrator" on ''Twirlywoos''. His style of delivery and consistently misplaced emphases are parodied by Jon Culshaw on ''Dead Ringers''.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://twitter.com/neilnunes1 Neil Nunes on Twitter] * David Smith, [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/mar/26/radio.bbc "Now on Radio 4, a change of programme ... a row about accents"], ''The Observer'', 26 March 2006. <!--already in refs* Terry Kirby, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/voice-from-jamaica-divides-radio-4-listeners-5544381.html "Voice from Jamaica divides Radio 4 listeners"], ''The Independent'', 31 March 2006.--> * Rachel Cooke, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606010905/http://www.newstatesman.com/200604100036 "I think of Radio 4 as a kind of club – but I don’t much like some of the other members"], ''New Statesman'', 10 April 2006. * Barbara Ellington, [https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20151009/neil-nunes-bbc-voice-made-jamaica "Neil Nunes, BBC Voice Made in Jamaica"], ''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 8 October 2015.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/videos/cg3jpvvwxx7o "Top tip from Neil Nunes? Aim for the impossible"], BBC, 22 August 2024.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunes, Neil}} Category:1980 births Category:Alumni of London South Bank University Category:Alumni of the London School of Journalism Category:BBC Radio 4 Category:BBC World Service people Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Living people Category:Radio and television announcers {{UK-radio-bio-stub}}