Batley woman named named as one of the ‘voices of Bradford’ for the UK City of Culture in 2025

Humaira Bham, 25, has been chosen alongside Irene Kaali, 30, and Olivia Wright, 25, to be at the heart of the BBC’s coverage of the UK City of Culture, which is being spearheaded by BBC Radio Leeds.

The trio from West Yorkshire were selected after a four-week talent search by BBC Radio Leeds which generated hundreds of entries.

BBC Radio Leeds asked member of the public to record a 45-sceond video of themselves, describing what the city means to them. The BBC team helped people to enter by doing a week of community outreach in Bradford, engaging with local people in their own city.

The talent search was also supported by a number of Bradford-born celebrities, including Anita Rani, Kimberley Walsh and Jonny Bairstow.

Each finalist was given two minutes to impress the judges who scored them on their ability to communicate their vision, creativity and innovation of audition, passion for the district of Bradford, and understanding of the UK City of Culture 2025.

The panel praised the winners for their heart, authenticity, warmth, and passion for their home city.

Humaira, who is an Optometrist from Batley, said: “I feel over the moon. My mum came up to me, she was moved to tears. If I can make my mum that proud it makes me so happy.”

Head judge Anita Rani says: “The standard was incredibly high. I know lots of people who judge talent shows say this but genuinely it was really difficult. Ultimately, we could only pick three people and we picked the three who had the highest scores and I’m very happy it’s three female winners!

“They had heart, authenticity, warmth. There was something in their eyes and it was their passion for Bradford. They’re all in love with the place. They’re all very different and all have very different stories but that in itself is a reflection of the city.

“People from Bradford have always known how special it is and it’s time for us to show the world but also own our own narrative.”