Ahead of a series of festive specials with his parents, Matt Baker reveals why his family always end up overdoing it…

• UK star Matt Baker has family Christmases from 23 December up to to mid-January 
• READ MORE:  ‘We’ll miss her’: Matt Baker reveals one of the beloved animals on his family farm has died as he pays an emotional tribute

Last Christmas was a total washout for Matt Baker. The Countryfile presenter and former gymnast spent the festive season in bed after straining his back while performing in a circus-themed panto at London’s Richmond Theatre.

‘I’ve got a herniated disc and it’s still not repaired,’ explains Matt, 45. ‘I was walking on tightropes, riding unicycles and juggling. The performances got more and more difficult. By Christmas Day I couldn’t get out of bed. It was horrendous, absolute agony.’

While Matt was laid up at their Hertfordshire farmhouse, his wife, Nicola, and their children, Luke, 16, and Molly, 14, did their best to bring Christmas to him. 

‘We did presents in the bedroom,’ recalls Matt. ‘My wife was very kind and put a Christmas tree up in there too, and hung baubles off the doorknobs. I had to have Christmas dinner off a tray. It was my worst Christmas.’

It certainly would be a blow for a man like Matt, who relishes the cosy warmth of not one but half a dozen family Christmases each year. That’s because Matt and his family spend weeks of the holiday season travelling across country to celebrate with relatives. 

Matt Baker with his parents Mike and Janice in Christmas Travels With Mum & Dad, the festive follow-on to his series Matt Baker: Travels with Mum & Dad

It kicks off with Christmas at home, just the four of them: ‘It’s important to me that Santa comes down our chimney,’ says Matt. 

‘Then we do Christmas with Mum and Dad, then my sister, then my wife’s family and then the extended family. We have Christmases from 23 December, which is my birthday, all the way up to mid-January.

‘You’ve certainly had enough of turkey by the 1st of February, let’s put it that way!’

Matt is generating festive cheer for the whole country with two new episodes of his series, Matt Baker: Travels With Mum & Dad. The show sees Matt and his parents Janice and Mike travel the north-east of England in a camper van, visiting picturesque spots.

Matt finds it weird that his parents – who first appeared in the hit show Our Farm In The Dales, which ran for three series from 2021 – are now famous too. ‘I’ve always sheltered them from the craziness of celebrity,’ he says with a laugh. 

‘And now they’re part of it. But you know what’s hilarious? It’s like I’m a child again, because wherever I go, people always ask, ‘Where are your mum and dad?’ Folks speak about them with real affection.

‘I’m so proud of them. It’s really injected some enthusiasm back into their lives. It’s quite lovely.’

Matt Baker: Christmas Travels With Mum & Dad starts on Monday at 9pm on More4. The family pictured together

When we meet, Matt is editing Christmas Travels With Mum & Dad. In the first episode, he tries his hand at glass blowing a bauble in the Lake District and Janice learns felting with wool from Herdwick sheep, the same breed she now raises in Durham.

‘We organise it so my parents have no idea what’s coming,’ explains Matt. So there’s genuine surprise when Janice fulfils her dream of visiting Beatrix Potter’s home, and when Mike goes to the Ruskin Museum, which tells the history of Coniston Water. 

‘My dad’s hero when he was younger was Donald Campbell, who came to his end at Coniston Water,’ says Matt of the daredevil who set eight world speed records on water and land before his death during one such attempt in 1967. 

‘Donald’s daughter Gina came to see my dad, and he talked to her about how her father was his childhood hero. So it’s very emotive.’

The second episode finds them in York, where they taste festive brews at Betty’s tea rooms. Matt surprises his dad with the chance to prepare the Flying Scotsman train to head out on the rails.

Barring any major physical mishaps this year, Matt’s wife and children will also be heading out with him to enjoy another series of jolly family Christmases – but first comes decorating the house.

‘Nicola goes mad for Christmas, so we literally have about three Christmas trees,’ says Matt. ‘And everybody gets Christmas pyjamas, including Grandad, Nanny, Mum, Dad and the kids, which we love. 

‘We have table presents, too – something small chosen specially for each person – and we always put lottery scratch cards into our crackers.’ In many ways, however, it feels like Matt Baker’s already won the lottery.

• Matt Baker: Christmas Travels With Mum & Dad starts on Monday at 9pm on More4.

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