2019-06-01+Woman+and+Home

otherstuff.Thisjobhasmademetake

more notice of what goes on around us.

Youseesomuchdepressingstuff

aboutthestateoftheenvironment

thatsometimesyoufeelyoucan’tdo

anythingaboutit.Butwhatwedoon

thisshowmakespeoplefeelempowered.

I thinkthat’spartofitssuccess.If we

saythere’sa shortageofberries,

peopleputmoreberriesoutontheir

birdtables.A lotofthewildlifewe

focusonis familiartothemsotheyfeel

theycanmakea differencetothose

particular species and our environment.

I startedoffonTVontheWideAwake

Club, whichwasa magazinemorning

children’sTVshowinthe80s.My

firstwildlifeshowwascalledOwl/TV.

OWLstoodforOutdoors& WildLife.

Theybasicallywanteda well-known

children’spresentertofrontit andthe

restwasdonebykids.Atthatstage

I lovedwildlifebutI didn’tknowvery

muchaboutit. We’dgotozoosand

doa pieceonanorang-utanandread

theinformationonthefrontofthe

enclosurethenrepeatit. Myknowledge

has developed since then.

WhenI firstmet

presenterChris

PackhamonTheReally

WildShowhewasthis

punkysortofbloke.

Ithought,“OhmyGod,

he’sgoingtohateme.”

I wasMrsCheerful.I came

in completelynaive.He

wasa complexchapbut

wehitit off.Wehavethe

samesenseofhumour.

He’ssoknowledgeable.

WhatChrisdoes,which

mostofuscan’t,is he

retainsit all.I’venever

triedtocompetewiththat

but I try to complement it.

I wasreallygrateful

forChris’ssupport

whenI firstpresented

Autumnwatchafter

KateHumbleleft.I was

gettingsomeonlinestick

fromKatefans.Chriskept

saying,“Stopreadingit!”

Nowadayswelovelookingfortheones

thatarerudeandslagusoff.Wethink

they’rereallyfunny.ButI didn’tfind

it funnybackthen.I foundit hurtful.

I thought,“OhmyGod,clearly I irritate

quite a lot of people.”

It wasveryinteresting

toseehowthatturned

around.Thefirstweek

was,“Wedon’twant

thischildren’spresenter

onourshow.Where’s

Kate?”Thenextweek

was,“Maybeweshouldgivehera

chance.”Bythethirdweekit was,

“Actuallywequitelikeher.”Onthefinal

weekit was,“WhoprefersMichaela

toKate?”It taughtmea greatlesson.

Peopledon’tlikechangeand

particularlytheagegroupwhois

watchingourshow.I amthatagegroup.

I’m53.Weresistchange.SoI getit

whytheyweren’tterriblyhappywithme

taking over from Kate, who they all loved.

My13-year-oldsonOllyhasinherited

myloveofwildlife.Mostofourfamily

holidaysarewildlifeholidays.Ollygets

really into them. I remember when the

lastWorldCupwasonandwewere

in Canada,mypartnerNickandOlly

wantedtostayin thehotelandwatch

thegame.Butwhentheyheardme

arranginga boattripformyselftosee

brownbearstheydecidedtheydidn’t

need to see the football after all.

I’mvegetarian.It wasfunnythisyear

becauseChrisdidVeganuary.Chris

askedmeonsocialmediain hisblog

whyI wasn’tdoingit aswell.SoI said,

maybea bitflippantly,thatI reallylike

mylattes.Ohmygoodness.I wascalled

a “cowrapist”.I wastoldI wasselfish.

Onsocialmediait’sallaboutwhatyou

don’tdo.I’vebeena vegetarianfor 32

yearsbuttherewasnopattingonthe

backforthat.Forme,mynoteating

meatis forthesakeoftheenvironment.

Morepeoplecanbefedona plotof

landif theyatevegetablesthanif they

atemeat.Obviously,myargumentdoes

falldownbecauseI drinkmilk,have

eggsandeatcheese,butI amstill

making a difference by not eating meat.

Thisis myfourthdecadewitha career

intelevision.I thinkspecialisingin

somethinghasmadea bigdifference.

I knowtherearenotthatmanyfemale

wildlife presentersaround.I thinkthat’s

whathasmademehave

longevity.I alsothinkit’s

takingopportunitiesand

havinga passion.That

definitelyhelps.If you’re

passionateabout

something,thatcomes

across on the television.

I’moneofthosepeoplewho

doesn’tlookbackandhaveregrets.

I alwaysmakea pointoflooking

forward.Youlearnfrommistakesand

youmoveon.I knowif I’dstudied

zoologyorsomesortof“ology”then

I mightbedoingslightlydifferent

programmes.ButactuallyI’mvery

happywhereI am.AndI thinkthatmy

rolewithintheseprogrammesis as

importantassomebodywhois a lot

moreknowledgeablethanme.It’s that

balance that you need. w&h

Springwatchis onBBC Two,

27 May-13 June

Michaelawith

Springwatch

co-presenters

GillianBurkeand

Chris Packham

“I don’t look

backand

I haveno

regrets”

WOrds

PAuL SIMPer

PHOTOGraPHs

BBC, SOLO SYNdICATION

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