Countryfile's Matt Baker's painful hidden health condition that makes it hard to move

Countryfile's Matt Baker has been on our screens for years. Renowned for his stints on Blue Peter and Countryfile, which he's presented since 2009, Matt Baker is also known for his time on The One Show, where he shared presenting duties with Alex Jones from 2011 until stepping down in 2020.

He's also been the face of shows like Big Blue Live, Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales and Matt Baker: Travels with mum and dad. More recently, he began presenting Our Dream Farm on Channel 4.

But what do we know about his life away from the show?

Read Countryfile's Adam Henson sparks concern with appearance as fans ask 'what happened'

Here's the lowdown on Matt Baker's marriage and family, and the painful hidden health condition he suffers from.

Matt Baker's hidden health condition

Matt has been transparent about his recovery from a herniated disc. He recently expressed his gratitude to the NHS, including surgeons and nurses, in an Instagram post, and also revealed he had spent Christmas in bed.

According to the NHS, a slipped disc (also called a prolapsed or herniated disc) is when a soft cushion of tissue between the bones in your spine pushes out. It's painful if it presses on nerves, and usually gets better slowly with rest, gentle exercise, and painkillers.

He said: "For a long time now I've been dealing with a herniated disc- as an ex gymnast it's hard not to be able to bend forward..So I decided to have a nerve block injection, - what a brilliant surgeon and lovely NHS team it was that did my treatment. Thank you all! (also a big thanks to the nurse who used to watch me on Blue Peter - the buttered toast was amazing! )".

He also spoke about the injury on Gabby Logan's podcast The Midpoint. He said: "I've injured my back. I can't tell you how upsetting it is as an ex-gymnast, not to be able to bend forward."

Explaining how he did it, Matt said: "I did my back in. I was doing a panto. I was doing Goldilocks and the Three Bears and we were practising with the stunt chairs, and the chair wasn't set correctly and bang! I went down on my coccyx and it turns out I slipped a disc in my back."

He revealed he has been trying to get back into exercise to help his recovery.

Matt Baker's 20-year marriage

In 2004, Matt married his partner, Nicola Mooney, and they recently marked their 20-year anniversary. The couple made their first TV appearance together on ITV's Lorraine to talk about Our Dream Farm, with Matt saying: "We don't get to work together a lot. We did the lockdown show in the dales but this is our first live TV interview together."

Discussing how they met, Matt revealed: "When we met I was a gymnast in a 1970's re-enactment group, disco inferno it was called, I used to wear wigs so you would never know it was me. Nicola was working up in a club in Cleethorpes where we played so that's how we met."

While Nicola added: "When I met Matt as a teenager was when I fell in love with the farm and the countryside and that way of life. Before that I had no experience of it." The pair have two children, a son named Luke and a daughter, Molly.