Dan Walker says bike crash changed his outlook on life: 'It resets your priorities'

Dan Walker has said that his bike accident in February made him reset his priorities, as he spoke with Helen Skelton about how his outlook on life has changed since the incident in their new show Dan & Helen's Pennine Adventure.

In a clip from the Channel 5 show, which premieres on Tuesday, 15 August at 9pm, Walker shared that when he was hit by a car in Sheffield town centre it stopped just 50 centimetres from his head, and this made him consider the tragic way things could have gone.

Read more: Dan Walker 'can't do much with left hand' after bike crash

Walker reflected: "I can remember getting to the roundabout, I looked to the right-hand side and saw a gap, I went into the gap and all I know is I got hit by a car, and obviously smashed my face up a bit, landed really heavily on my hip.

"The car stopped, eventually, about 50 centimetres away from my head, you can't not think about potentially what could have happened and that's why I'm really thankful that I'm here."

Despite this, Walker added that since the accident he's "not even thought about it" as he would rather focus on looking to the future.

The news presenter went on: "It does make you think about things you might have not said to somebody, things you want to do.

"It resets your priorities, and [think] 'ok. what are the important things and what do I really care about?'"

In February, Walker said that he was thankful to be alive following the crash, and he credited wearing his helmet with saving his life.

At the time, Walker revealed the accident to his fans on social media by sharing a number of photographs showing his facial injuries.

Read more: Dan Walker has no memory of his bike crash

In the post he wrote that he was "battered and bruised but – amazingly – nothing broken," he also said that he did not have any memory of what had happened before coming round on the tarmac surrounded by paramedics and police.

The presenter left BBC Breakfast to host Channel 5 5pm news last year, he had been in the role for 13 years prior to his departure.

Walker had hosted BBC Breakfast since 2016 and he has since been replaced by Jon Kay. Before he worked on BBC Breakfast Walker presented Football Focus on BBC from 2009 to 2021.

He also competed in the 19th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 where he was paired with professional partner Nadiya Bychkova, they made it to the quarter-final.

Skelton also appeared on Strictly during the 2022 edition of the programme, and the former Blue Peter presenter was paired with Gorka Marquez and came runner-up to winner Hamza Yassin.

Read more: Helen Skelton says Strictly saw her through some 'dark days'

Walker and Skelton are longtime friends and are joining forces for the Channel 5 show which sees them travel up the Backbone of Britain together from Sheffield to Cumbria.

Dan and Helen's Pennine Adventure premieres on Channel 5 on Tuesday, 15 August at 9pm.

Watch: Dan Walker makes his Channel 5 debut