How? Kids' TV presenter and newsreader will share the secrets of the Kray Twins

HOW, indeed?

You may think of him as a genial kids’ TV presenter or even a newsreader, but Fred Dineage had the ears of two of the most fearsome gangsters to ever stalk the streets of London - and he’s coming to tell audiences in the borough all about it in February.

The English author, broadcaster and television presenter has had a ttelevision career spanning nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and sequel How 2, and ITV's regional programming in the south of England.

Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.

He began his career at Southern Television in 1964, as a presenter on children’s programme Three Go Roundt.

He later moved onto the station's local news magazine programme, Day By Day, as a reporter and presenter. In later years, he concentrated on sports coverage, hosting the programme's weekly South Sport feature.

As an anchor for the South edition of Meridian Tonight, his co-hosts included Natasha Kaplinsky.

In the 70s, he also appeared as a relief presenter of World of Sport – a role which earned him an appearance on the children's Saturday show Tiswas.

But he is perhaps best known on these shores for his appearances in How.

The show was originally devised by Jack Hargreaves for an audience of adults returning home from the pub to give facts and demonstrations that could settle arguments or be used as pub tricks.

Following the pilot, Hargreaves felt the show might work better in an afternoon slot, aimed at making facts fun for children.

It provided answers to questions beginning with the word ‘How’.

Each episode began with the presenters all raising one hand and saying ‘How’ simultaneously, mimicking the stereotypical Native American greeting,.

Topics commonly covered included science, history, mathematics, and simple puzzles. The formula proved so successful that it was soon broadcast by the whole ITV network and given two slots per week.

In 1990, the series was revived as How 2. Presenter Fred Dinenage returned, accompanied by Gareth Jones, Carol Vorderman, Siân Lloyd, Gail Porter and Gail McKenna.

Dinenage then appeared in a new series of How, as the ‘Head of How’, in an office apparently above the How studio set, which features a picture of a much younger Dinenage as one of its many decorations.

But Fred will be in town in February to discuss an altogether darker topic.

For decades they were feared as the ultimate criminal gang lords of the London underworld, but their reign of terror came crashing to an end when in 1969 both Ronnie and Reggie Kray were given life sentences by a judge at the Old Bailey.

Reggie went on to serve decades in some of the toughest prisons in the country, while Ronnie became a patient at Broadmoor with an insanity that was only kept under control by massive doses of drugs.

The unlikely figure of Mr Dinenage was chosen by the twins to tell their official story, and he became one of the very few people allowed into their inner circle.

Fred gained an unparalleled insight into the real lives of the legendary kings of crime, and in this show, he reveals stories and situations for the first time that have never been told publicly before, including recordings he made while visiting Ronnie at Broadmoor.

At an event in the Theatre at the Mill, Fred will disclose what it was like to venture into some of Britain's toughest institutions and meet the most foreboding twins in criminal history, who other journalists just couldn’t get close to.

There will be stories that will fascinate and intrigue, while learning about the gritty reality of being a gangster in the criminal underworld of the swinging 60s, from the only man they trusted to tell their tale.

Back in 2024, a recording of Ronnie Kray telling young people crime only brings ‘a life of misery’ was discovered.

It was just one of the recordings from one of Fred’s visits with one of the Kray twins.

Mr Dinenage interviewed the twins on multiple occasions and said he found this particular clip in his loft from the 1980s.

In it Ronnie Kray said: “Very young people who have read our books, they think we've had a glamourous life.

“But I advise any young people today, not to get in any trouble, because it will only bring them a life of misery.”

The broadcaster told the BBC he has kept a number of recordings of the brothers, which were taken as part of research for his book Our Story, written from the Krays' perspective.

Mr Dinenage said he found the tape recording of Ronnie Kray in his ‘very cobwebby attic’ and was amazed it still worked.

He said: “It was extraordinary, eerie feeling because it's like a voice from the grave.

“I couldn't believe it, it was like Ronnie was actually suddenly in the room with me.”

Mr Dinenage said he and the Kray twins ‘always got on like a house on fire’, describing Reggie as being ‘very fit, agile and strong’, while Ronnie was ‘absolutely immaculate’.

He added: “As far as I was concerned, they were complete gentleman. I even took my wife Beverley in to meet Ronnie and she and Ronnie got on like a house on fire.

“Often the Kray twins would say to me: ‘Fred if anybody ever upset you, you will tell us won't you.’

“I never ever did because repercussions would have been quite serious.

“I never felt under any kind of threat at all.”

Mr Dinenage is now travelling across the county for his theatre show Ronnie, Reggie and Me, telling his own stories of meeting the twins.

He will appear at the Theatre at the Mill for ‘Ronnie, Reggie and Me’ on 15 February 2026 at 7.45pm.

Tickets are priced at £24.