BBC Countryfile's Adam Henson used wedding day as way of 'saying goodbye to everyone'

Countryfile's Adam Henson had a painful family secret and bittersweet wedding "goodbye" with the BBC star having to deal with some painful family tragedies. In 2015, Adam was heartbroken when his late father Joe Henson, died following a cancer diagnosis at the age of 82.

In an interview with The Guardian, Adam said: "It's devastating for anybody to lose a parent, but my relationship with Dad was particularly close. Right from my first days, he was my rock, my mentor, my hero. It's no exaggeration to say he taught me virtually all I know about farming and television."

And within six years, his wife Charlie Gilbert was diagnosed with a tumour in her pancreas, so the pair tied the knot before she went under the knife for an operation and treatment as she bravely fought the cancer. Speaking last year, Adam recalled: "We cried a lot. Those vows cemented my emotions and let me say from the heart how I feel about Charlie.

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"The registrar wasn't aware of our situation and said she'd never had such an emotional couple. For us, it was a way of saying goodbye to everyone." Charlie added: "It was a horrible position to put everyone in because you're trying to be happy, but I was going into hospital the next day and didn't know if I'd be coming out. It was the best possible last day I could have had."

Adam shared: "Friends and family are even more important to us now - they've been so supportive. In the past, I'd push the children to be more career-focused and get ahead. But now I'm kind of - just have a lovely time. Look after yourselves - but have a lovely time doing it, because you just don't know what's around the corner."

Before his wife's cancer fight, back in 2018, a friend's suicide prompted Adam to address mental health issues among the farming community. "I have lived on a farm and been involved in farming all my life. As anyone working in farming knows, every day brings potential joy and disaster – you never quite know what is going to happen and there are many things you can't control. This is one of the reasons for the high suicide rate within the farming sector," he said.