Countryfile’s Ellie Harrison reveals she’s ‘charting a new course’ as she announces big career change after BBC exit
COUNTRYFILE star Ellie Harrison has given fans an update on what is in store for her after stepping away from the BBC countryside series.
The TV star has revealed that she will ‘miss the geography field trips’ but ‘will take all the lessons’ she has learned on the hit show with her in her new adventures.
Ellie announced earlier this month that she had stepped down from Countryfile, which Adam Henson also presents from Gloucestershire.
Fans and cast members of the star, including Adam, have bid an emotional goodbye to the presenter, who bowed out after more than 13 years of fronting the show.
In a final column written for the BBC Countryfile magazine, the 46-year-old revealed that her future plans will revolve around her family and loved ones as she prepares to move on to a new chapter in her life.
She also disclosed why she decided to leave the show and explained what she would miss about it most.
She also revealed that her future plans will revolve around her family and loved ones as she prepares to move on to a new chapter in her life.
The president of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust wrote: “I’ve come to realise that I don’t need to navigate to a whole new ocean or even a new sea, but to chart a new course somewhere in these waters, raising my three wonderful children, growing our family business and following my own creative calling to produce art of my own making.
“The winds of change are blowing, my hands turn the tiller, and I close my eyes to take comfort from Invictus: ‘I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.’ I’ll see you again someday.”
She praised Countryfile for teaching her some practical life lessons, saying: “I’ve learned that unless you move and generate internal body heat, as when filming in a single spot for hours, there is no coat that will keep you warm.
“That if it’s a rare day of wall-to-wall rain, you will definitely get wet, at least at the neck, wrist and ankles, no matter the clothing.
“That hair and make-up will be blown to wishful vapours by the end of the first piece to camera: in the great outdoors, you don’t get to look winsome, but you do get to look real.
“It’s been interesting to learn that there is no price on local knowledge, as even the same species will behave differently in different places. Muntjac deer bellows sound different in every new place I’ve heard them. It’s always worth an ask – people enjoy sharing knowledge about their patch.
She concluded her column by revealing what she will miss from the BBC show: “Along with the lessons, there are many things I’ll miss.
“Permission to sit in the outdoors all day, for the woods will always be my cathedrals and the trees my counsel. I’ll miss the steady beat of working one logical step at a time, as well as moments of total stillness while we record audio ‘wild track’.”
Meanwhile Countryfile’s Adam recently welcomed two new dogs to his family, and fans were delighted to see them being posted on Instagram.