Chris Packham: ‘You only have a certain number of rainbows’
We tracked down Springwatch’s Chris Packham to talk lockdown, love and his favourite natural habitat…
Since he first appeared on TV as the spiky-haired host of TheReallyWild Show, Chris Packham has become one of our best-loved nature presenters. Now 60, Chris lives in the New Forest, Hampshire, and is dating zookeeper Charlotte Corney. Also presenting shows with Megan McCubbin, his step-daughter from a previous relationship, Chris, who also fronts Springwatch and Autumnwatch, laced up his boots to make new show, ChrisPackham: TheWalkThatMade Me, where he films himself hiking through his native Hampshire, from Southampton to Winchester, and talks about how nature saved him during his years growing up with undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome.
Your documentary is a great watch, Chris…
Thank you. I thought it was a unique form of TV – just me, my 360-degree camera, and the people I met on along the way. It seemed very gentle, but at the same time really immersive.
Why this particular route?
It’s where I grew up, I’ve lived my life in that landscape. If I’d gone somewhere else, it might have been a beautiful place, but wouldn’t have had that connection. And it’s about how nature helped me at hard times in my life.
There’s a moving moment when you climb a hill and say, you know you’ll never do it again with your dad…
Well, he’s 88 and he’s not well. To me, stuff like this sends out a screaming message – you can’t take things for granted. There’ll only be a certain number of rainbows or full moons you are going to see.
You meet some great people on the way – any favourites?
I did love the little girl who was fishing. There she was with a muddy T-shirt and knees. It gave me real hope that at some stage in the future she might remember that day, after spending a lifetime interested in the things that slide, sting and scratch.
It’s very moving when you recall having no friends growing up, and spending your 18th birthday alone.
The reason I talk about it is that I don’t want another 18-year-old to be like that. If a kid is sat in their bedroom listening to miserable music and reading miserable poetry, it is awful, and I’d rather they didn’t. I would rather they could say to someone ‘I need help’ because at that point in my life I didn’t know what help I needed and there wasn’t anyone to ask. But now there is, so we should promote a wider understanding of mental health and autism.
There’s been a lot of emphasis lately on how nature is good for mental health.
Well, I think lockdown’s been part of that. Amid confusion and fear, you go to wildlife to be calmed. You don’t need to know the name of everything – the feel-good factor comes anyway.
How was lockdown?
I spent it in a cottage in the New Forest with Megan. It was joyous to get up every day and see the world changing on a daily basis.
She is following in your footsteps as a naturalist. You must be proud…
I am – and it comes
from her heart. I probably introduced her to so many animals that one of them bit her and infected her! But she is 100 per cent committed to and entranced by nature.
Do you ever fall out?
Well, all parents fall out with their kids, but I honestly can’t remember the last time. We had a rule when she was a child that if we did fall out it could only last for 15 minutes. And we stuck to it – 15-minute sulk and that’s it!
You talk about losing your dogs, Itchy and Scratchy…
That was the biggest struggle. But that is part of life. I have Sid and Nancy now, who are two years old and are Itch and Scratch’s relatives.
Does your partner, Charlotte, get jealous?
No, she loves the dogs. And she has also had a life a little bit like mine. She grew up with big cats – she had tigers, so she really understands what it’s like to love an animal – and to lose one.
Sounds like you’re a perfect match…
I am very lucky. She gets on with Megan, and they are the best of mates. She also understands my complete devotion to my dogs – without that the whole relationship would falter.
It’s hard to believe that you are 60…
It did sneak up on me! I was definitely panting a little bit more going up a Welsh cliff the other day than I would have been when doing
The Really Wild Show!
Are you looking forward to Autumnwatch?
Yes, I do enjoy those programmes, because they are live they are a real challenge.
You do liven things up with your witty asides…
Well, we have to keep people interested! We are trying to broaden the audience constantly and we have to stop them getting bored of us.
It does sometimes look like you are very cold!
That’s the only hard bit, but I’ve got plenty of anoraks. People do often write in saying, ‘ Why have you got so many coats on?’ I tell you why, because it’s minus five and I’ve been standing here since 6am!
● ChrisPackham:The WalkThatMadeMe is on BBC Two on Wednesday, 28 July at 8pm