SUMMER LOVING
HELEN SKELTON TELLS EMMA PRYER WHAT’S IN STORE IN THE NEW SERIES OF LIVE: SUMMER ON THE FARM
NEVER work with children and animals is an adage TV presenter Helen Skelton happily ignores as she gears up for her new show.
The mum of three takes both in her stride as she celebrates British farming and produce.
Her children, Ernie, seven, Louis, five, and seven-month-old Elsie Kate, seem to love visiting Live: Summer On The Farm’s HQ at Cannon Hall Farm in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, as much as viewers do.
Over a week, the show will turn the spotlight on lambing, beekeeping, haybaling, sheepshearing and knife-making.
Chef Tim Bilton will be whipping up a feast, Dr Amir Khan shows how to convert a garden into a butterfly haven, and JB Gill meets everyone from Norfolk thatchers to Tottenham cheesemakers.
Here, Helen, 38, tells us why the show fills her with pride…
As well as Live: Summer on the Farm, you present Springtime On The Farm. How have the shows changed?
No one expected us to get Springtime away during Covid but we did it in our gardens and on our phones and it was a huge hit. I’m always amazed at how dedicated viewers are and we’ve tried to put them at the heart of the programme.
There’s more ownership from viewers now – just as it should be.
What have you given viewers more of this time?
They really love Rob and Dave [Nicholson] doing competitions so there’ll be more of those. I always think, “flipping heck. They’ve gone to so much effort!”.
So more welly wanging?
Yes, probably. But I don’t envy anyone doing the health and safety risk assessment for it.
Last time, Dave ripped his shoulder and had to have an operation, so that was a bit intense.
The vets are the most competitive, though. JB, Jules [Hudson] and I did a tug-of-war against them. They’re still going on about how they lost and how unfair it was because they were down a hill. I’m like, “You sound like children. Stop it!”
Ex-Springwatch presenter Martin Hughes-Games is standing in for Jules Hudson this year…
Yes. People say working on a show is like working with family and I used to think that was such a cliché – but it’s really not. I’d be lying if I said I won’t miss Jules because we always had such good banter.
It was a really fun dynamic. But Martin will fit in really well, too. He’s a lovely bloke and he’s been to my house and met my kids already.
Do you often take the kids to work?
Oh yes! They always come with me. They know Rob and Dave pretty well and the boys play with Rob’s granddaughter. I’m lucky because it is such a family affair and I’ve always done gigs that fit around my kids – that’s modern life.
It must feel great to know the show can lift people’s spirits, particularly after the pandemic…
Yes. That’s what telly is about for me – uniting people. During the pandemic, having that ability to connect to so many people who were on their own was a real privilege.
It will forever be one of the things I’m most proud of.
Have any messages touched you?
During the pandemic, this lady kept knitting these really cute things for my kids and she’d send them to the farm. She’d say, “I’m on my own and I feel like I’m part of the gang.”
It makes me realise how lucky I am to work on feel-good shows when I hear things like that.
I’ve saved a letter I got while I was working on Blue Peter from a guy who had written to me when he was going through chemo and I was doing an Amazon trek.
It was a reminder of why I do what I do.
How daunting is it to do live shows?
Not at all. That’s half the joy of it.
We can be doing stuff as cows are heckling and lambs and alpacas are making crazy noises, or attacking each other. That’s what I love.
Which new arrivals can we expect?
Lambs, goats and a foal. Last series we finished with a shire horse being born, which was a massive moment, so we’ll revisit that. I’ll get to see my favourite horse, Orchid.