Inside the life of Countryfile star Matt Baker: From living on his mother's ... trends now
Matt Baker has been at the helm of Countryfile since 2009, spending over a decade bringing the country's most pressing agricultural news to air.
While viewers know him for his warm and personable demeanour, life has not been smooth sailing for the stalwart presenter.
The Countryfile star has struggled for years with a back injury following a mishap during a pantomime rehearsal and has also had to give up his long-running position on The One Show to help at home following his mother's farming injury.
In recent weeks, his show come under fire as many Countryfile viewers hit out after a recent segment which examined the struggles for those in the countryside in accessing NHS dentists.
As another episode of the farming show is set to air on Sunday, MailOnline takes a look at the TV host's life.
Matt Baker has presented Countryfile for well over a decade - but his successful presenting career has not come without its challenges (pictured in 2023)
In 2021, he decided to give up his post at The One Show so he could help more at home following his mother's farming accident (left to right: Matt, his mother Janice and father Mike)
As the presenter celebrates 20 years of wedded bliss with his physiotherapist wife Nicola, MailOnline takes a look at Matt Baker's life (pictured in 2018)
Matt and his wife Nicola née Mooney met when they were teenagers - a day that the ex-Blue Peter presenter describes as 'the best day of [his] life'.
Recalling the moment he met his physiotherapist wife, Matt confessed the best decision he made was plucking up the courage to speak to her at the disco show in Pier 39, Cleethorpes.
He told The Telegraph: 'Going up to my wife and saying hello.
'I was working in a 1970s dance troupe called Disco Inferno when I was 18, touring the nightclubs of the North.
'She was there as a punter and we got chatting. Then I had to perform but I didn't tell her.
'Weeks went by and I just used to disappear a quarter of the way through the evening. Eventually, she figured out that I was one of the performers.'
In an interview with The Express in 2011, the TV host admitted that he was grateful he had met his wife prior to his success in showbusiness.
'I'm so lucky that I met my wife Nicola before any of this telly lark started,' he said.
'I knew way back then she was the one and I don't think I could have done all this without her.'
His rise to fame on Countryfile was closely witnessed by Nicola, whom he married in 2004 at Winston in Teesdale.
The happy couple later welcomed their son Luke, 16 and a daughter named Molly, 14.
Why did Matt Baker live on his mother's farm?
Matt has described the day he met his wife Nicola as the best of his life. After the pair tied the knot in 2004 they welcomed two children into the world Luke and Molly (pictured)
Matt and his family decided to relocate from the Chilterns to the Durham Dales after his mother broke her leg after being knocked down by a sheep in 2021
In 2021, Matt and his family made the move from the Chilterns to his childhood home in the Durham Dales during the coronavirus pandemic.
They decided to relocate after his mother Janice broke her leg after being mowed down by a sheep, meaning the responsibility was on Matt to keep the farm going.
Following the accident, the Countryfile presenter who left his presenting gig on The One Show after nearly a decade so he could spend more time with family.
On the Channel 4 show Our Farm In The Dales, Matt explained that he felt he needed to go back home so he could help out on the family's 100 acre sheep farm.
The accident left the family unsure about whether they would be able to keep the farm at all.
Matt told the series: 'The Hampshire Downs [which are a breed of sheep] that we have bred here for years are big sheep. They are on the large end of the scale as far as sheep are concerned.
'I think, now at the stage that you're in and what has happened that - and this will be hard to hear as you've put so much effort into the flock that we've got - I just don't think that they are the way forward, for you now.'
A teary-eyed Janice replied: 'It's quite a strange feeling really, sitting here doing this in the sunshine. It's the first time I've actually had to make a decision because of what's happened.
While reliving the incident and the uncertainty regarding the farm's future, Matt's mum Janice broke down in tears (pictured filming Our Farm In The Dales for Channel 4)
Janice suffered from a fall while tending to the farm's herd of sheep (stock image) which saw them knock her to the ground
Matt, who gave up his One Show presenting job to spend more time with family following the incident has sung his wife's praises branding her as 'very patient' and 'supportive' (pictured in 2024)
'It's
