Matt Baker opens up on his 'The One Show' exit: 'I shut my laptop and that was that'

Matt Baker has spoken about his unceremonious departure from The One Show, insisting he hasn't looked back after saying goodbye to the programme.

Last year the 43-year-old Countryfile presenter left the BBC show after nine years without explanation, bowing out over video call on 31 March, 2020, while in self-isolation at home during the first national lockdown.

Baker told This Morning: "It was a year ago to the day. I said goodbye and shut the laptop and that was that."

He added: "It was propped up on an ironing board."

Watch: Alex Jones is pregnant!

Read more: Matt Baker swaps TV career for full-time farming after mum trampled by sheep

Baker has now become a full-time farmer after moving back to his parents' home in the Durham Dales to help out when his 65-year-old mum Janice was injured in a farming accident in July last year.

The former Blue Peter presenter insisted he had always felt more at home outdoors than interviewing A-list stars in a studio.

He said of his new life: "To be fair it's what I was always doing that when I was on The One Show – I was forever scraping all the mud off and then going to interview George Clooney."

Baker added: "Everybody's lives have been turned upside down [by the pandemic], I kind of feel like everybody else really.

"This is my life, this is who I am."

And he revealed the last person he shook hands with before social distancing rules came into place was Hollywood star Steve Martin, when interviewing him for the show.

He recalled: "The last person I shook hands with was Steve Martin. I shook hands with him and said, 'We'll never be allowed to do that any more.'"

Baker has made a More4 documentary series starring his parents, wife Nicola and two children, Molly, 11, and Luke, 13, about their new rural life, called Matt Baker: Our Farm In The Dales.

Read more: Matt Baker reveals he's leaving The One Show after nine years

But he told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby he hasn't retired from TV forever.

Baker said: "I'm passionate about programme-making – I've loved it ever since doing children's TV. It was what I always wanted to do and keep doing."

The TV presenter is set to re-join The One Show co-host Alex Jones in the studio on Wednesday evening to mark the anniversary of his departure and discuss his new life on the farm.

Watch: Alex Jones makes slip-up on The One Show