Winterwatch presenter Michaela’s having the time of her life.
She may be heading for frosty Scotland, but things look bright for presenter Michaela
A big difference about being in your 50s is that your opinions are measured
MICHAELA STRACHAN is making 2019 the year to finally put her cancer hell behind her.
The popular presenter, back later this month for Winterwatch, was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram in early 2014.
As there was a risk of it spreading Michaela, 53, had a double mastectomy and will shortly reach her five years of regular checks.
But she’s told in10 how she’s quit her medication early as she is determined to start a fresh chapter.
“I took myself off it because I wanted to start 2019 drug-free,” said Michaela.
“That’s five months before I should. I think a lot of these figures, like five years, aren’t definite and mentally I wanted to go into the year not taking Tamoxifen.
“I’ve had the six-monthly check-ups and the risk of something coming back is so low that it won’t be a big milestone going for my last appointment.
“Everyone can be unlucky and get a second bout of cancer that’s not connected, but the chance of my particular cancer coming back is very slim.”
Winterwatch comes from the Cairngorms National Park and it’s going to be a year-long base for BBC2 this year.
Both Springwatch and Autumnwatch are also going to come from the Dell of Abernethy, sitting on the edge of the forest and bordered by the River Abernethy.
Having a permanent location means Michaela, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke and roving reporter Iolo Williams can really get to know the landscape and its wildlife.
“We’ve done Winterwatch there before and it’s such a special place,” said Michaela.
“It’s real wilderness, dramatic and beautiful and it’ll be great to be there for three seasons.
“We’ll become familiar with the wildlife, where the best places to see them are and who the best people are to show us where they are.”
As we speak Michaela is, enviably, basking in the blue skies and soaring temperatures of the home in South Africa she shares with husband Nick Chevallier and their son Ollie, 13.
So, ask what her memories of the Cairngorms are, and her instant response is probably unsurprising.
“The weather!” she laughs. “One year it was gorgeously calm, with the snow lying beautifully, and another year there was snow everywhere except where we were.
“Instead, we had storms, rain and floods. The storm hit just as we started one programme and it was challenging – to say the least! “When I’m packing to come back I try things on and I’m standing in the heat of Cape Town in layers, a big coat, hat and scarf thinking surely nowhere can be that cold.” Wildlife and the natural world has rarely been more in the public consciousness. Programmes such as Blue Planet II have shone an unforgiving light on the state of our environment and the part we have played in bringing it to its current worrying state.
For Michaela, who wears her heart on her sleeve, it’s nothing new.
“It depends what day it is for me, whether I’m optimistic or pessimistic,” she confides.
“Some of the statistics that have come out in the past year have been so sad and so shocking.
“The amount of wildlife we’ve lost in the UK is just terrible. I’ve noticed when doing the Watches that finding some of the wildlife is getting harder and harder.
“That’s depressing – and it’s my generation that’s created the problem – but I feel a tidal shift going on.”
And Michaela says she can see that in the three stepkids she has with cameraman/producer Nick.
Sam, 28, has started a company making environmental content called Rewild Television and his twin Tom is with a company taking workshops into schools, talking about sustainability.
And older sister Jade, 30, is obsessed with the outdoor life.
“I’m so impressed and heartened with what they and their friends are doing. They have such an amazing social and environmental conscience.
“And when we go into restaurants, Ollie is the one saying he doesn’t need a straw and looking for plastic to pick up when we’re out.”
And plastic waste pollution is a bugbear for Michaela, to the extent that walks with her dog on the beaches near her Cape Town home have become marred.
“It’s become a bit irritating because I can’t NOT pick something up. I start with one or two things and then I come back with every bit I can find.
“I can’t enjoy my walks any more, but if everyone picked up just five items every time they walk their dogs we’d clear the beaches.
“I haven’t been using plastic bags for years and if I forget my carrier I’ll wheel the trolley over and pile the items in the car one at a time.
“I have a coffee every day but if I don’t have my cup with me I won’t have one.
“When we filmed Autumnwatch in New England, it was unbelievably bad for single-use plastics. I’d have my morning cereal in my reusable coffee cup rather than take plastic plates.”
With her cancer thankfully behind her, Michaela is savouring health, happiness and a career that continues to go from strength to strength.
As well as the Watches, she did a Christmas programme with co-host Chris and also toured UK arenas with Walking With Dinosaurs in 2018.
“This is definitely my decade. The big difference between being
in your 50s as opposed to your 20s is that your opinions are measured.
“In your 20s you have strong opinions without maybe knowing both sides but in your 50s you know there are grey areas.
“When I was in my 20s I was avidly anti-culling. In my heart, I still am, but I realise that if the balance has gone so wrong in some areas, it’d get even worse if you didn’t control numbers.
“And another thing that’s great is that you’re not afraid to say you don’t know about something without fearing people thinking you’re stupid.”
After such a hectic time last year, Michaela would be happy for 2019 to be a little less busy.
And family discussions will always pre-empt anything that’d take her away from home.
“I have a 13-year-old son who has just started high school this month and I’m keen to be around for the beginning of that.
“Luckily he’ll be settled in by the time I’m across doing Winterwatch.
“I won’t turn the Watches down, I have to work around that and we weighed up years ago that I’d have to be away for a certain time. I do turn other stuff down, though, if it’s on important milestones in my son’s life.
“But I love my work and I grab opportunities when they arise.”
So, with Fiona Bruce taking over Question Time this month and Zoe Ball just settling into her new Radio 2 role, is it a good time to be a woman in broadcasting?
“I suppose it is, but the best person should get the job whether they are male or female,” adds Michaela.
“I think it’s great that Zoe is doing Radio 2 breakfast – but it’s quite surprising a female hasn’t done that before.”
■ Winterwatch starts on BBC2 on Tuesday, Jan 29.