Samantha Renke

Samantha Renke is a broadcaster, speaker, writer and disability rights campaigner who was named as number 3 on The Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 List of 2020.

Her credits include hosting Unfiltered Woman (ITVx), This Morning (ITV) Morning Live (BBC One), Sunday Morning Live (BBC One), Rip Off Britain (BBC One), Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (BBC Two), Loose Women (ITV), Good Morning Britain (ITV) and Jeremy Vine on 5 (Channel 5). She has also been interviewed on ITV News, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News, Sky News and Front Row (BBC Radio 4).

Samantha’s debut book, You Are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread, was published by Penguin Books under the Happy Place imprint which is curated by Fearne Cotton. She is also a columnist for the Metro and Enable magazine, and has written for The Huffington Post, Pos’Ability, Lifestyle and Glamour magazines.

Samantha featured in the highly successful series of adverts for Maltesers based on real-life experiences of disabled people and has collaborated with brands such as Amazon Prime Video, SHARK, Eurostar and WUKA.

Samantha has co-hosted the Motability Lifestyle podcast and LifeDownLow’ed podcasts as well as being a guest on podcasts such as Happy Place and BBC Access All.

She is also an experienced speaker having spoken at events for companies and organisations such as the National Education Union, Paramount, Houses of Parliament, British Red Cross, Retail Week, British Retail Consortium (RPC AND BRC), ASOS, OMNICOM and Save The Children, Pinterest and Jones Day.

She has been disability lead for Paramount (formerly VIACOM), UNLRN and the Diversity Trust, and spoken on behalf of TLC Lions.

Samantha is trustee for The Brittle Bone Society. She is also an ambassador for Scope, Ferne Animal Sanctuary and Undressing Disability for Enhance The UK in addition to being patron of Head2Head, a multi-sensory theatre company.

Samantha was nominated as Campaigner of the Year in the 2019 European Diversity Awards and Celebrity of the Year in the 2020 National Diversity Awards. She was also awarded the Outstanding Alumni from the University of Lancaster which is presented to graduates who have made a substantial contribution to the field and have developed an outstanding international or national reputation amongst their peers.

Samantha launched her Don’t Want Our Cash campaign to highlight the barriers Deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent people face when accessing the high street and the importance of recognising the strength of the Purple Pound.