Matt Baker Says He Manages Double Life in Durham Countryside
matt baker says he now lives a double life after moving to the Durham countryside with his family. He says the shift has left him immersed in farming while still working on television, a split he describes as part of the same routine rather than a break from it.
“The countryside has made me who I am. I love the pace of nature; how the seasons change, and it's really important. I am immersed in farming. I live a double life, actually! When I'm not on telly, I'm out in the fields.” Baker told Total TV Guide. He also said, “I am at my most creative in the countryside. I am dyslexic and I don't read well, but I love animals.”
Durham family life
Baker lives in the Durham countryside with his wife Nicola and their two children, Luke and Molly. He said the family move has no regrets attached to it, and that his family plays a central role in balancing television work with the demands of farm life. That support, he said, is a “testament to a strong family.”
He also said working alongside relatives is one of the best aspects of farming, adding that few industries support such close family involvement. For readers following his career, the point is not just that he has moved rural; it is that the move now shapes both the way he works and the way he talks about work.
From The One Show to farms
Baker left The One Show in 2019 to pursue his ambition of making programmes focused on farming, and made his final appearance in 2020. That shift explains why his countryside routine keeps surfacing in his public comments: the home move and the career move now reinforce each other.
He has tied that outlook directly to Our Dream Farm, where seven candidates compete in challenges for the chance to become tenant of a 600-acre National Trust property in Eryri, North Wales. Baker said, “This is the most nature-rich farm the National Trust has in Wales,” and called the series “a practical job interview,” with contestants including builders, experienced farmers, and a mother-and-son combo.
Our Dream Farm in Wales
The bigger picture is straightforward: Baker is not treating farming as a side interest, but as the center of the work he wants to make. With Our Dream Farm built around a tenancy competition, he is turning that personal shift into the material for his next screen role, and the family move to Durham looks like the foundation of that decision rather than a detour from it.
