Matt Baker has made the rather surprising admission that Our Farm in the Dales was never meant to be TV show.
One of the big new series successes of 2021, the More4 programme became an instant hit with viewers, with many left gutted that it was only on screen for a two weeks.
The response Our Farm in the Dales provoked led to it being moved to Channel 4, for a series of repeats that aired in a coveted Saturday night prime time slot.
And then came the news that many fans of the Durham-based show had been waiting for, when former Blue Peter host and County Durham native Matt revealed that it was getting a second series and Christmas special.
READ MORE: Matt Baker gives update on his mum after horrific injury on farm
The latter goes out on More 4 on Monday night and will see the Bakers prepare for winter and get ready for an enchanting Christmas at their farm in the Durham hills.
Bu, ahead of Our Christmas in the Dales making its highly anticipated debut, Matt appeared on Lorraine to say the whole thing might never have happened.
Matt's return to home turf was brought about by mum Janice suffering serious injuries in an accident on the family's farm, with him and wife Nicola and their children moving up to help Matt's dad Mike.
But Matt said, having just left The One Show, it was never his intention to make a programme about what his family were going through.
He told Lorraine Kelly: "Basically, we were re-versioning the farm and it was never meant to be a TV programme at all.
"And because I left The One Show and I was back up there sorting everything out, I was having all these meetings with TV commissioners, as I set up a production company.
"And all these meetings were about other programmes with other presenters and other teams and stuff. I was in the hay barn at the time and I was like 'I'm really sorry, it's all kicking off' and the show evolved from that conversation."
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