Michaela: I cherish life after ‘the big C’

MICHAELA STRACHAN has told how much she cherishes every day after her cancer scare.

The popular presenter, back on our screens this week in a new series of Winterwatch, was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine check-up.

She need a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in 2014 but coming through it has given Michaela a fresh perspective on life.

“You get to an age where you just completely value life,” she told iN10.

“Having been through the ‘big C’ scare, you re-evaluate everything.

“Every day is a bonus we have to cherish.”

Michaela, who turned 50 last year, now lives in South Africa with husband Nick and their son Ollie, 11.

She is swapping the balmy heat of summer – it’s over 90 degrees there as we speak – for the chill of the UK for Winterwatch.

She’ll join Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games for four nights of live programmes on BBC2. This time it’ll be at the show’s Autumnwatch home at RSPB Arne at Poole Harbour in Dorset.

But the previous base has been Scotland and Michaela says it’s one of her favourite places – if a bit of a wake-up call.

“It’s a real climate shock after the blue skies of South Africa,” she laughs.

“I’ve loved being in the Cairngorms for the past few years but the crew can see how much I’m feeling it. They give me little hot water bottles.”

Michaela has now been a fixture on our screen for 30 years, going back to the Wide Awake Club in the mid-1980s.

“I’ve worked with Chris since The Really Wild Show 25 years ago and I’m comfortable with him,” adds Michaela.

“We have TV chemistry and working with him feels like coming home.”

Winterwatch, BBC2, Monday to Thursday, 8pm.