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They managed to keep their relationship under wraps from BBC bosses for an entire year, acting as consummate professionals when the cameras were rolling.

But when Blue Peter presenters Joel Mawhinney, 28, and Shini Muthukrishnan, 24, were spotted holding hands at a garden party at none other than Buckingham Palace last Spring, their relationship was finally revealed.

And while the children’s show has had a couple of romantic encounters, most famously Valerie Singleton, 89, and Peter Purves, 87, enjoying a fling, it looks like these two could go the distance, with the first ever Blue Peter wedding.

In an exclusive interview, Joel said: ‘She’s just so gorgeous, and I have to say she is a dream but it was so unexpected. We kept it quiet for a long time. It wasn’t from a place of “Oh nobody must know” it was more we know what people might think, "are they just dating because it’s like a showbiz thing" or the fear from the team "what if they get together and then break up?" which is a whole other dilemma so we decided to keep it quiet.

‘We wanted to see how it went just for the two of us. It meant that by the time everyone found out we had a year together under our belts. It meant we could say “hey look, it’s not going to affect our work because we’ve been seeing each other for this long and it works” and steady strong it’s been good ever since. I don’t know how I’m doing it because she is so gorgeous.’

The magician, who recently quit his role on the long-running BBC show as its 41st presenter, is keeping tight-lipped about exactly where their first kiss took place, though admitted: ‘What I will say is that it was the biggest rush of adrenaline and endorphins that I’d ever felt in my life.’

When Blue Peter presenters Joel Mawhinney, 28, and Shini Muthukrishnan, 24, were spotted holding hands at a garden party last Spring, their relationship was finally revealed

As the relationship goes from strength to strength, there could well be the first ever Blue Peter wedding

As the relationship goes from strength to strength, there could well be the first ever Blue Peter wedding.

Joel said: ‘That is on the cards for sure, absolutely. I’m head over heels, I’ve just got to save up the money for a big Indian wedding because they are expensive.

‘The biggest perk of dating Shini, besides from her, but a close second, Shini’s mum is the best cook in the world and when I visit her parents I’m given so much food. She’s like a magician throwing in all these spices, she’s trying to teach me as well. Shini was born in Malaysia and I’d like to go out there with her one day. Her brother got married last year and in my mind that was like a month-long event, so I'd better start saving.’

So how did these two young presenters find love on the famous Blue Peter sofa?

Joel, who has clocked up a whopping 15million followers on TikTok, explained: ‘From Friends to lovers! She came on the show and we were genuinely just good friends off the bat, and we were good friends for months and months. We became very close.

‘As you can imagine working on a show like Blue Peter you travel all the time and you're with each other for these big long car journeys and you just talk so much and we got to know each other. It wasn’t crazy quickly. It was over the span of quite a long time, but we sort of just realised “Oh, we get on really, really well” and then there was a period in there where it was like, “Oh, are we? aren't we? I'm not quite sure”.

‘Nobody wanted to say it, because you're like, we work together, what are we going to do? It was a very slow burn and we just got closer and closer, and slowly but surely it sort of transformed from friends into seeing each other.

‘Honestly, it is one of the biggest blessings in my life, she is an angel. Behind the scenes it can be hard sometimes and she’s been a real rock so I’m very grateful. At the moment, she’s busier than me, so I’m sort of helping her right now which has been nice. ‘She’s just so sweet and beautiful and we have fun. It’s nice because we're in the same industry and it's always been a little bit tricky dating because you’re away so much or you’re working unusual hours, she really gets it because she’s in it.’

Joel, from Bangor, Northern Ireland, made the difficult decision to leave Blue Peter earlier this year and his final episode went out a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking about his decision to go back to magic he said: ‘It wasn't from a place of really wanting to leave but more because I love this other thing so much, which is the magic. So that was the crux of the decision, I thought, I’m getting the itch to get back to that and I don't really believe you can do everything at once. And I thought, well, hey, I've done more on this show now than I ever thought I would and I’ve stayed longer than maybe I thought originally because I didn't know what I was in for. But it was really tough to leave, but I think sometimes you got to take these jumps in life.’

And what a jump it’s been already. Earlier this year, after telling BBC bosses that he was leaving, he flew out to Los Angeles to take part in America’s Got Talent.

Girlfriend Shini, who is still a presenter on Blue Peter, was by his side as he performed a dramatic and incredibly risky magic trick to the live audience, which saw him voted through to the next stage of Simon Cowell’s TV show.

The trick saw Joel take a gold bracelet from judge Mel B, a framed picture of Sofia Vergara’s beloved pet pooch and Howie Mondel’s mobile phone after rummaging through their dressing rooms. He then smashed the items up with a hammer leaving the judges, which also includes Simon Cowell, shocked before they all reappeared on stage much to the delight of the audience, and relief of Mel B.

The magician, who recently quit his role on the long-running BBC show as its 41st presenter, is keeping tight-lipped about exactly where their first kiss took place (pictured on August 2)

Girlfriend Shini, who is still a presenter on Blue Peter, was by his side as he performed a dramatic and incredibly risky magic trick to the live audience, which saw him voted through to the next stage of Simon Cowell’s TV show

He is still buzzing following the reaction of his performance on America’s Got Talent while Shini is busy filming for Blue Peter

The bracelet had been a gift from her fellow Spice Girls for her 50th birthday. Joel admitted that it was the most nervous he’s ever been. During Friday night's episode viewers will be able to see him with judge Mel B at her house in Leeds as he performs a trick for her and fellow Spice Girl Emma Bunton for the next round of the competition.

He said: ‘I really did have a lot of fear going into it because I wasn’t sure what I was going to do because I didn’t know what objects I’d be able to use. I had no clue what would be in their dressing rooms. And that is the nice thing about magic is that it’s live and it’s raw but it’s also really, really scary.

‘Shini came out with me, and thank goodness, because you really do need somebody there with you. She said afterwards that she was even more stressed than me!’

He is still buzzing following the reaction of his performance on America’s Got Talent while Shini is busy filming for Blue Peter.

Joel said: ‘We’ve been together a couple of years now, and have our two year anniversary coming up so we’re making plans. We’re trying to make sure that we’re both free to celebrate.

‘That’s been the hardest thing trying to make time for each other. Even though we worked together a lot of the time you’re at separate locations, so you just sort of pass each other. So it’s been really nice having more time together these last few weeks.’

Viewers in the UK and Ireland can watch the latest season of America’s Got Talent on Samsung TV Plus. Owners of Samsung TVs and Galaxy devices can watch new episodes every Friday at 7pm as well as catching up on previous episodes. Season 21 started on 12th June and ends on October 2nd.