Ben Fogle and Kate Humble on the never-ending magic of Animal Park

Presenters of Animal Park talk to Georgia Humphreys about why they keep returning to Longleat

Ben Fogle and Kate Humble are coaxing Bert, the overweight goat, on to a seesaw-like apparatus, in a bid to get him exercising.

But the Longleat safari park resident isn’t having any of it and, much to the amusement of the presenters, makes a run for it at one point towards the fence and back to his paddock.

It’s just one challenging moment while filming the exciting Animal Park Summer Special, which will air across three weeks this month on BBC One.

“Animals will always be naughty,” quips Fogle, 44, who first filmed the much-loved documentary series back in 2001. “That’s what makes it fun, that’s what keeps us on our toes, because you never know what they’re going to do – invariably they won’t do what you want them to do.”

Impressively, the daytime show – which is also presented by Scottish journalist Jean Johansson – is now in its 13th series.

And yet Fogle and Humble – who were both born in London – still find the setting of the park, in the grounds of Longleat House (an English stately home where the 7th Marquess of Bath lives), really special.

It’s the feeling they get walking through its gates that draws them back year after year.

“In television, you move on and sometimes you grow out of a programme,” admits adventurous Fogle, who recently reached the summit of Mount Everest, which was filmed for a CNN documentary.

“But I think the reason that we both keep coming back is because there’s a real warmth here.”

Meanwhile, Humble, 49, notes that the Wiltshire tourist attraction, which first opened to the public in 1966, has returned to its glory days.

“What was unique about Longleat was the fact it was a collection of extraordinary animals in somebody’s garden, albeit a very grand garden – it felt

0 Ben Fogle and Kate Humble in the 13th series of Animal Park

like a really personal, very English, very eccentric, fabulous, aristocratic thing to do,” explains the broadcaster, who has also fronted Springwatch and Countryfile.

“A couple of years ago, I think Longleat lost its way for a bit and it became quite commercial.

“This year, it’s like, ‘What’s magic about Longleat is back’, and it’s just been a real joy filming here.”

But you can also expect tears this series – there’s a whole programme dedicated to Nico, the park’s beloved Western lowland gorilla who died earlier this year at the age of 56.

As Humble explains, the sad loss comes 10 years after Samba, his mate on Gorilla island, passed away: “They were the most fantastic example of a slightly dysfunctional married couple.

“And when she died, Nico was absolutely distraught. So all the keepers spent a lot of time with Nico getting him over that…”

The presenter trails off at this point, as she starts to cry. “He just had this very kind of human face. And I love the fact that he liked watching telly and he loved Animal Park and he loved Ribena.”

She adds fondly: “He was an animal that you had to work – he wasn’t just, ‘I’m cuddly and cute’. He was like, ‘I’m Nico, I’m the boss, bow before me’. But he was a really remarkable animal.”

“You see how it affects us … imagine the keepers,” says Fogle. “That has been their life’s work, working with these creatures.”

Humble is keen to point out that some really exciting things have happened at Longleat this year too.

“There’s the 129th giraffe to be born at the park,” she reveals with a big smile. “She’s called Shelley and she’s gorgeous.”

Humble also shares the moment she first saw her co-star on TV – he was participating in 2000 reality series Castaway, which followed a group of 36 people marooned on the Scottish island of Taransay for a year.

“My husband was working for the company that made Castaway,” says Humble, who has been married to director and producer Ludo Graham since 1992.

“We sat down to watch it and there was this fantastically posh boy with a beautiful dog and his shirt off and I said, ‘I bet we are going to see a lot of him on the telly in future’.

“The next thing I know he is in my sitting room, with dog, which had just jumped in my pond, and was covered in duck slime.”

“I owe a lot to Kate and to Longleat and Animal Park, because it’s where I cut my teeth really, especially doing 300 hours of TV here,” says Fogle.

“I don’t know if it’s made me a great presenter or not – that’s down to other people’s opinions. But I definitely learnt a lot about television. And we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Animals will always be naughty, that’s what makes it fun”

● Watch Animal Park Summer Special weekdays on BBC One from today.