Aidy Smith
Nominee Profile
Location: London
Aidy is the only TV and radio presenter in the UK with Tourette Syndrome, flying the flag for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ communities. He is a proud patron for the ADHD Foundation and Neurodiversity Charity alongside being the Global Ambassador for the Tourette Association of America. Vouching to create opportunities for underrepresented communities both in front of and behind camera, Aidy is the DE&I Ambassador for MIPCOM, the world’s largest TV conference series held in Cannes. His motivation to pave the way for acceptance and belonging has also led him to having a seat on the board for Soho House Group within a DE&I capacity.
His fierce determination to break down stigmas and raise awareness have led him to producing and presenting a number of documentaries on Tourette’s and ADHD.These include ’The Truth About Tourette’s’ on BBC Radio 4, alongside ‘Beyond Distraction: The Complex Reality of ADHD’ and ’Tourette’s: The Truth Behind the Tics’ for Virgin Radio.
As a little boy, Aidy was a child star with a returning series on ITV. At the age of 7, his child acting career was brought to an abrupt end after he started to develop tics. He was dropped overnight and shunned from the industry. Fast-forward to adulthood after years of being told he’d amount to nothing, he vouched to make a return. Against all odds, Aidy created and funded his own TV series, given no one would give him a chance due to the cruel stigmas of Tourette Syndrome. Aidy's show ’The Three Drinkers’ is now on its third season on Amazon Prime in over 100 countries and 10+ languages, including a multitude of airlines like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Iberia and more.
Having built a platform from his global TV series he strongly believes in giving back to the community to help create meaningful change. A frequent voice on radio, Aidy has created a number of ‘guest edit’ programmes for various BBC stations, including BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio London. He also created the world’s first mentorship programme for aspiring food and drink writers from underrepresented communities, funding their certifications and paying them to write on the website of his award-winning tv series.
Aidy’s favourite quote is ’there’s strength in the struggle’, something he lives by each and every day.
His fierce determination to break down stigmas and raise awareness have led him to producing and presenting a number of documentaries on Tourette’s and ADHD.These include ’The Truth About Tourette’s’ on BBC Radio 4, alongside ‘Beyond Distraction: The Complex Reality of ADHD’ and ’Tourette’s: The Truth Behind the Tics’ for Virgin Radio.
As a little boy, Aidy was a child star with a returning series on ITV. At the age of 7, his child acting career was brought to an abrupt end after he started to develop tics. He was dropped overnight and shunned from the industry. Fast-forward to adulthood after years of being told he’d amount to nothing, he vouched to make a return. Against all odds, Aidy created and funded his own TV series, given no one would give him a chance due to the cruel stigmas of Tourette Syndrome. Aidy's show ’The Three Drinkers’ is now on its third season on Amazon Prime in over 100 countries and 10+ languages, including a multitude of airlines like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Iberia and more.
Having built a platform from his global TV series he strongly believes in giving back to the community to help create meaningful change. A frequent voice on radio, Aidy has created a number of ‘guest edit’ programmes for various BBC stations, including BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio London. He also created the world’s first mentorship programme for aspiring food and drink writers from underrepresented communities, funding their certifications and paying them to write on the website of his award-winning tv series.
Aidy’s favourite quote is ’there’s strength in the struggle’, something he lives by each and every day.