Our Dream Farm Matt Baker's wife of 20 years, why he quit The One Show and his health condition

Presenter Matt Baker is back on screens with his new Channel 4 show Our Dream Farm. The programme is a "passion project" from Matt's production company.

The series sees Matt follow the search for the new tenants of The National Trust's vacant Wallington Estate farm. Seven shortlisted applicants are hoping to acquire the 10-year tenancy and be entrusted with a Northumberland national treasure. You can read more on this here.

The programme has proved popular with viewers who have flooded Matt with support following his debut that sheds light on the process of tenant farming. However, off-screens Matt has also been busy, keeping fans updated with a debilitating health condition he has been suffering with and celebrating his 20-year anniversary wife Nicola Mooney.

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Here's everything you need to know about Matt Baker as he returns to screens with his brand new show, Our Dream Farm.

Who is Matt Baker?

Matt Baker is a presenter best know for Blue Peter, Countryfile, which he has hosted since 2009, and The One Show, which he co-presented with Alex Jones between 2011 and 2020.

He has also fronted shows such as Big Blue Live, Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales and Matt Baker: Travels with Mum and Dad. More recently he started hosting Our Dream Farm on Channel 4.

Matt Baker's family life

Matt tied the knot to his partner, Nicola Mooney, in 2004 and the pair recently celebrated their 20-year anniversary. The pair recently sat down on ITV's Lorraine for their first television interview together to discuss our Dream Farm, with Matt explaining: "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."

Speaking about how they met, Matt shared: "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 couple share two children together, a son, Luke, and a daughter called Molly.

Matt Baker's health condition

Matt has been open and candid about his recovery after suffering a herniated disc. He recently thanked the NHS, including surgeons and nurses in a post on his Instagram page.

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 told his followers: "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."

Why did Matt Baker quit The One Show?

The presenter announced his departure from the BBC programme in 2019, confirming that he would be making his exit the following spring. Matt's last show aired in April 2020 but due to Covid-19 regulations at the time, Matt joined co-star Alex Jones via video link as he self-isolated at home and said goodbye to viewers from his own sofa.

Matt discussed his reason for leaving during an interview on Gabby Logan's podcast, The Midpoint. He candidly shared: "It was that part of me saying, 'Look, was this ever a goal?', and 'what are you actually working towards?'"

He continued: "You think to yourself, 'I'm doing this chat show at seven o'clock on BBC One, does the goal then become, I'm just going to do this forever? What is the point of continuing with something that you've done for nine years?'

"And then I thought, I'm just going to [leave]. I'm just going to go because if I don't, I will probably be here forever. And, like I said before, I loved that element of production. I love the element of directing and I thought I really want to set up my own production company."

True to his word, Matt has since set up his own production company Big Circus Media, which is behind his latest "passion project" on Channel 4 called Our Dream Farm, you can read more on this here. He is also set to front another Channel 4 show called Baker's Britain, in which he will travel the country and meet incredible people along the way. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.