Mohammed Emwazi – Jihadi John

Miquita Oliver has revealed her first kiss was with ISIS Beatle, Jihadi George. 

The former Popworld host, 40, made the surprise revelation while talking to best friend Lily Allen on their Miss Me podcast. 

Jihadi George, whose real name is Alexanda Kotey, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US in 2022, having pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges including lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to support terrorists.

Yet before he joined a terrorist cell and moved to Syria, Kotey was raised in London and went to school with Oliver and Allen. 

Kotey, 41, was a pupil at Fox Primary School in Kensington and Chelsea, which also counts Hayley Atwell and Darcey Bussell as former students. 

Reflecting on their time together as schoolmates, Oliver shared: ‘Do you remember who my first kiss is? It’s Alexy – mixed race Alexy from Fox. And do you remember what happened to Alexy? He became Jihadi George!’

Miquita Oliver revealed her first kiss was with Jihadi George as she detailed bizarre connection to the ISIS Beatle during a discussion on her BBC Sounds podcast, Miss Me? (pictured in 2024)

Jihadi George, whose real name is Alexanda Kotey, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US in 2022, having pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges including lethal hostage-taking 

Laughing, Allen replied: ‘She does pick ’em. It is kind of crazy that your first kiss ended up there. That’s pretty mental.’

Oliver then wrapped up the chat, by stating: ‘It’s not my story to tell so let’s move on!’

She went on to add: ‘There are kisses I’ll never forget – from when you were like teens and twenties.’

‘Between the ages of about 18 and 27 I think most of my straight friends I’d snogged.’

Kotey was a member of ‘The Beatles’ terror group who kidnapped and killed 27 people – targeting westerners because of their allegiance to ISIS.

The group grew up in west London and volunteered to fight for the Islamic State group in Syria, where they ended up guarding Western hostages.

They horrified the world after releasing video footage of several of the killings, showing their victims in orange jumpsuits before they were beheaded.

Kotey – born in Britain of Ghanaian and Greek Cypriot background – was captured in Syria by Kurdish forces. 

Kotey, 41, and Oliver, 40, were pupils at Fox Primary School in Kensington and Chelsea, which also counts Hayley Atwell and Darcey Bussell as former students

Oliver – the daughter of celebrity chef Andi Oliver – has gone on to pursue a career in the entertainment industry (pictured on The Caribbean with Andi and Miquita) 

He admitted involvement in the deaths of four Americans – journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kᴀssig.

The terrorist was charged with four counts of hostage-taking resulting in death; conspiracy to commit hostage-taking resulting in death; conspiracy to murder US citizens outside of the US; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, hostage-taking and murder, resulting in death; and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.

In contrast, Oliver – the daughter of celebrity chef Andi Oliver – has gone on to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. 

In 2001 the age of 16 she began hosting Popworld with Simon Amstell.

She left the Channel 4 show in 2006 but continued to present on T4 and went on to host shows on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. =

Who are the ISIS Beatles? The group included ringleader Jihadi John who shared beheading videos

Mohammed Emwazi – Jihadi John

Jihadi John

Mohammed Emwazi was one of the most prominent members of the so-called ISIS Beatles and was regularly seen carrying out executions in their horrific beheading videos.

He took part in the barbaric beheading of British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and US humanitarian worker Peter Kᴀssig.

The terrorist, who was born in Kuwait and grew up in Queen’s Park, West London, was charged with 27 counts of murder and five counts of hostage taking in November 2014.

It is believed he was killed in a Hellfire missile drone strike in Syria in 2015.

Aine Lesley Davis – Paul

Jihadi Paul

Born Aine Leslie Junior Davis in 1984 to Fay Rodriquez, ‘Paul’ is believed to have spent the early years of his childhood in Hammersmith, London, where his mother lived. 

He was one of 13 children his father had by four different women.

The former tube driver, who has drug-dealing and firearms convictions to his name, converted to Islam while serving time in prison.

In 2014 his wife, Amal el-Wahabi, was convicted of funding terrorism after she persuaded a friend to try and smuggle £16,000 ($21,000) in cash in her underwear to him.

Davis was captured by Turkish security officials in 2015 and was later found guilty of being a senior member of a terrorist organization and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

In August 2022, Davis was deported from Turkey to the United Kingdom, and a day later – on August 11 – Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against Aine Davis for terrorism offences in 2014.

He is now serving an eight year prison term after admitting charges of funding terrorism and possessing a firearm for terrorism purposes.

Alexanda Kotey – George 

Alexanda Kotey

Kotey, 38, was born to a Ghanaian father and a Greek Cypriot mother and grew up in Shepherd’s Bush, West London.

Before his radicalisation, he is thought to have worked as a drug dealer before converting to Islam in his early 20s.

In 2012, he left for Syria where the US claims he was involved in beheadings and known for administering ‘exceptionally cruel torture methods’, including electronic shocks.

He was also accused of acting as an ISIS recruiter who convinced a number of other British extremists to join the terror group.

Kotey was captured in Syria while trying to escape to Turkey in 2018 and was held in a US military center in Iraq.

The British Government wanted him tried in the US, where officials believe there is a more realistic chance of prosecution than in the UK. 

He was extradited last year and was charged with a number of terror offences. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison, 15 years of which would be spent in the United States and then he would be transferred to the United Kingdom.

El Shafee Elsheikh – Ringo  

El Shafee Elsheikh

Born in Sudan, Elsheikh, 33, grew up in West London and is the final member of the four British terrorists who fled to join ISIS.

He has been linked to the killings of a number of hostages after heading to Syria to join the extremist group.

He was captured along with Kotey when they tried to flee to Turkey in 2018 and has since been transported to the US where he now faces charges relating to terrorism and beheading Western hostages.

He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges of kidnap, conspiracy to murder and providing material to support terrorism, but he refused to give evidence. He was found guilty following a trial in April 2022.

He eventually pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to life in prison.