I would rather do my duty than be a national treasure, says Packham

CHRIS PACKHAM has said he would rather “do my duty as an environmentalist than be called a national treasure”.

The Springwatch star said there are still people who do not like him because he is trying to change their minds faster than they are comfortable with.

He told Hello! magazine: “Can old punk rockers become national treasures? I don’t know. I’m still fighting hard against what I see as environmental injustices and I still have people who very much don’t like me because I’m trying to get them to change their mind more quickly than they would like.

“And that’s always going to be part and parcel of my life. I’d rather be comfortable at night knowing I have done my duty as an environmentalist than being called a national treasure.”

Packham also spoke of his pride in stepdaughter Megan McCubbin over her role on Springwatch and said: “She did really well. I said to her: ‘You figure out what you want to say and I’ll fill in around you.’

“I’ve got nothing to prove. I was there as a support mechanism, really, and wasn’t needed.

“She believes in what she’s got to say, she’s excited by the science and committed to the environmental aspects of it.”

McCubbin added she has had a marriage proposal, saying: “I had this young man who contacted me to say that his older brother would like to marry me but is too afraid to message me directly. But if I’d like to message him, here’s his account.” She said it was “sweet”.