Olympics' Matt Baker ‘knew straight away' family was 'in trouble’ after predicting ordeal

Matt Baker has recalled the moment he knew his family were "in trouble" after a terrifying incident on the farm. Back in 2021, Matt's 77-year-old mother Janice broke her leg after being mowed down by sheep.

At the time, Matt was away from the farm and was in the midst of starting up his own television production company, following his departure from The One Show. The 46-year-old's new venture was supposed to be him taking a step back from being on-screen and going behind the cameras instead, until a TV commissioner pitched an idea.

During the process of gathering ideas, Matt received a worrying phone call from his dad, informing him that his mum had been struck by the sheep and had to be rushed to hospital.

Not giving it a second thought, the presenter recalled swiftly gathering his family and animals together and heading straight back up north to the family farm.

"My mum is the shepherdess, I mean there's no doubt about it, she runs the show up there and I knew straight away that we were going to be in trouble. We kind of, as a family, had been waiting for something like this to happen, because it was only ever going to be some farming thing or the sheep that were ever going to tell mum that things needed to change."

He went on to say: "Because I knew the workload that was up there, I felt I had no choice and thought let's just get back up there.

"We put all the animals in the trailer and headed up north. I just started to do these changes because we needed to change the sheep that we had."

While having a conversation with television commissioners about potential ideas, one suggested taking Matt's family farm chaos to the screens.

Having never had his family on-screen, the presenter insisted he was apprehensive about the idea at first, but that his family grew to like the concept.

Once also informing them that he was in control of every inch of the process, they agreed to film a pilot, and following this, Our Farm in the Dales was born.

"They were actually a big part of the edit process because I was doing it all at home in lockdown," he shared on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live.

"It's unbelievable that all this happened during lockdown."

Fans of the show have since got to know Matt's family, which includes his wife Nicola and their two children Molly and Luke.

The farmer has since fronted Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker on Channel 4, which saw seven couples compete to become tenants on a 340-acre farm in the Wallington Estate.

After eight episodes, a livestock auctioneer and his wife won the show and began their 10-year tenancy.

The presenter and former gymnast is currently commentating at this year's Paris Olympics.

Olympics coverage continues today at various times on BBC One.