It’s been eight years since Michaela Strachan experienced the most challenging period of her life, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Springwatch presenter was 48 at the time and doctors advised her to have a double mastectomy.
But nearly a decade on, Michaela talks about the experience positively as she joins us on Zoom, saying she embraces her body.
“There’s no point worrying whether it will come back, so I’ve shut that out of my mind,” she says as she chats from her home in South Africa.
“I have a friend who was in a very similar situation to me and her cancer has returned, and I am on that journey with her.
"A lot of my friends and family have asked, ‘Has that made you scared?’ And no, it hasn’t, because what’s the point in living in fear every day, thinking that something’s going to happen?"
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“After the mastectomy, I wasn’t hung up on my body image either because I’m incredibly lucky to have a wonderful partner [film producer, director and cameraman Nick Chevallier] – we’re very well matched, we love each other and we support each other.
"Yes, I could have reconstruction that looks perfect – because mine’s not perfect – but why would I? I don’t want to be perfect. The scars tell my story and I’m at peace with that. They are far more interesting than perfection.”
The cancer diagnosis did, however, take Michaela by surprise and her oncologist told her she didn’t have any of the typical risk factors – she had a healthy diet, didn’t smoke or drink excessively and exercised regularly.
It’s for this reason that she didn’t make any huge lifestyle changes following her operation, although the experience has changed her outlook on life.
She said: “It’s made me appreciate the times when I’m incredibly content. For instance, this morning I went for a walk with the dogs.
"It’s a lovely day, there were loads of people out and I got a coffee afterwards. And I marked that contentment, instead of just letting it pass by. I thought, ‘I’m pocketing this because I feel good’. So I’ve definitely noticed myself acknowledging that I’m lucky and that I feel content.”
Michaela, who is a vegetarian, looks very fresh-faced and relaxed on our call, but she says she’s not particularly focused on her age.
“I don’t realise that I’m heading into older age,” she says. “I’m 56 now, but in my head I’m 35. I still climb mountains and it’s only my knees that tell me that I’m a lot older.
"The biggest wake-up call for me is when young kids have no idea what The Really Wild Show is! I finished presenting that 15 years ago – it’s not that long ago. But most kids weren’t alive then and they wouldn’t realise I used to be a children’s TV presenter.”
Michaela has been on our screens for decades, starting her career on Saturday morning television in the 1980s, on shows such as Good Morning Britain and Wide Awake Club with Timmy Mallett.
In 1993 she joined The Really Wild Show, a children’s wildlife programme on BBC One, which she hosted for 13 years.
Now she’s best known for hosting Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch with her pal Chris Packham and has no intention of giving up what she calls “a dream job”.
“I don’t think I’d ever step down. I love it and I tend to get incredibly connected to the series I do,” she says.
“Programmes change all the time. I was on Countryfile for 10 years and then they shook up the presenting line-up. I’m not bitter about it – I understand people are replaced and shows are refreshed.”
When we speak, she’s about to jet back to the UK for another TV project, a new Channel 5 series called Digging For Treasure, in which an army of amateur metal detectorists use their kit and their skills to scour an authorised patch of land for artefacts and items that have been lost through the centuries.
“I love meeting passionate people,” she says of the series. “Whether you’re passionate about wildlife, about the environment or about going out on a weekend with your metal detector and trying to find treasures, I really warm to that enthusiasm in others. I also love uncovering treasure that will tell a story.”
After wrapping the series, she’ll be attending her brother’s wedding before flying back out to South Africa for a couple of months until Autumnwatch begins at the end of October.
She admits that she’s keen not to spend too much time away from home as she wants to be around for her son, Oliver, who’s just turned 17.
“I’ve been quite overwhelmed with the sudden change in him and that’s something I’ve had to get my head around – he used to be quite small and then suddenly he shot up and is now taller than me and his dad and has a really deep voice,” she says.
“When I was away, almost a year ago during Autumnwatch, I was still having to quarantine in a hotel beforehand and I was filming programmes in big batches to save travelling back and forth. And I came back after that long stint and I actually thought, ‘Who is this bloke in my kitchen?’ Ollie was suddenly so different.”
When she’s in South Africa, Michaela says she’s simply “Ollie’s mum” and many people aren’t even aware of her TV career in the UK. But when she’s over here, it’s a different story, with people stopping her in the street for a chat. Mostly, they are kind, but from time to time she does receive abuse online.
“I read a comment on social media the other day that said, ‘What’s the point of Michaela Strachan?’
I thought that was a bit harsh. But I’m very lucky because most of my followers follow me because they like me. There’s probably heaps of horrible stuff, but my philosophy is that if you’re on television, not everybody’s going to like you,” she shrugs.
“I know that my cheerful personality will probably irritate some people, but I’m terribly philosophical about it. Although when I do get bad stuff, I can’t help but read it. Sometimes it’s a good thing and I’ll think, ‘OK, maybe I need to analyse that – maybe I actually need to think about what I said there’.”
While Michaela has had an enduring career in telly, some people aren’t aware that she had a less-successful stint as a popstar.
In 1990, she recorded the single Take Good Care Of My Heart, which reached number 66 in the charts.
Last year, she jumped at the chance to take part in All Star Musicals on ITV, where she received professional vocal coaching and impressed viewers by performing a routine from 42nd Street in a gold flapper dress.
“I was practising in the kitchen constantly before the show, and Ollie said, ‘Mum, when are you going? How many more days before you fly? It’s just that it’s quite painful to watch.’ But when he saw me perform, he said to me, ‘Wow, Mum, you’re actually good. I wasn’t expecting you to be as good as you were’.”
The experience has left Michaela with another performing ambition – to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.
“I’d love to do Strictly,” she says. “I was reading the latest name to be announced this morning and they said, ‘Oh my God, this has been my dream forever’, and I thought, ‘That’s what I’d be saying’. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed it happens for me one of these years.”
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