Iconic British TV presenter and singer Ayshea Brough was honoured at the 2024 Asian Media Awards.
Journalists and broadcasters joined actors and presenters at the 12th ceremony, which celebrates achievements in a range of categories in TV, radio, stage, online and creative media.
The ceremony is supported by the University of Salford and took place at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 25.
Ayshea Brough’s career has spanned more than six decades during which time she has appeared in a host of TV, film and stage roles. As a TV host, Ayshea was instrumental in helping to launch the some of the biggest pop and rock acts of the seventies. It made her a household name.
The award was presented by Asian Media Awards panel members Anisa Subedar and Mirage Islam.
Ayshea Hague as she was known made her film debut as an uncredited extra in the film Tom Thumb (1958, George Pal).
She would attend a theatrical and ballet school as a child in London and got her first record deal on a Granada pop show named ‘Discotheque’.
Ayshea said: “I was a guest on the show but was then offered the job of presenting and starring in it.”
She would also sign her first recording contract with Philips Fontana and her first single ‘Eeny Meeny’ was released in 1965.
As a singer she made many appearances and could be seen on numerous television promotional shows such as ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’.
In 1969, Granada TV cast her to present and star in her own pop show, initially called ‘Lift Off’, but renamed to ‘Lift Off With Ayshea’ on a fourth series in 1972. The series which would rival Top of the Pops, began in November 1969 and would run for five years and 144 episodes until December 1974.
The programme had a significant influence on the pop music industry, debuting acts that often went on to later success, most notably David Bowie. It also featured the likes of Wizzard, The Bay City Rollers, The Sweet, Black Sabbath, Slade and 10cc.
Ayshea said: “I had someone from the top three in the charts on the show every week plus a new release.
“I found everyone friendly and happy to be doing TV. It was a much smaller industry than I know now I was the only person on TV that looked like me.
“In the seventies, live events took place mainly in small clubs where everyone went to see one another it seemed.
“It was more like a group of people rather than an industry you could go and see the top acts in a club of just a hundred people.”
Ayshea’s television appearances included celebrity shows such as The Golden Shot and Celebrity Squares.
As an actress, she appeared in an episode of Jason King in 1971 and also enjoyed a recurring role on Gerry Anderson’s UFO series (1969 – 1971). She also made brief appearances in the films Gotcha (1985), where she is playing a club singer and the Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes action movie Demolition Man (1993).
After starring in pantomimes and summer shows all over the UK, Ayshea then built up a large following for her live cabaret performances which she took worldwide.
She represented the UK in the World Popular Music Competition in Tokyo, sponsored by Yamaha in 1975 with a song written by Elton John, ‘The Flowers Will Never Die’.
She has recorded and released two LPs and made 14 single releases of her work. A new compilation CD of her work, The Best of Ayshea, is now available.
She married three times, most recently to CBS President Michael I Levy, and spent many years living in Hollywood, where she became close friends with Kris Kardashian, and ran an interior design service.
Ayshea said: “I guess I was not a typical English rose but at the time it never crossed my mind.
“I know I had grown up in a privileged home and had been very lucky at a very young age, but I think your determination will always win through no matter.”
This year’s Asian Media Awards winners were announced at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 25.
Previous recipients of an Asian Media Award include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Waris Hussein, Art Malik, Mehdi Hasan, Nina Wadia, Anita Rani, Shobna Gulati, Faisal Islam, Kulvinder Ghir, Adil Ray, Lisa Aziz, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tina Daheley & Mihir Bose.
The University of Salford are Premier Partners to the Asian Media Awards.
Partners to the awards include ITV, EssenceMediacom, Reach PLC, Women In Journalism & Lancashire Mind.
The awards are also supported by Manchester Metropolitan University, AMT Lawyers, DKR Accountants, Opus Broadband, Janan, Hilton Manchester Deansgate, Fritz AV, Payal Events & Cleartwo.
