Countryfile legend John Craven, 85, opens up on marriage

The 85-year-old has presented the popular BBC rural affairs show for 37 years, having started in 1989.

Prior to that, he had a 17-year stint on Newsround, which he helped launch on the BBC back in 1972.

Away from TV, Mr Craven lives in a village near Banbury with his wife Marilyn, where the couple brought up two daughters.

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The couple have been together for over 50 years and are now also grandparents.

In a previous interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Craven spoke about the long-lasting marriage and opened up about his wife being his “rock”.

“It helped that she worked in TV. She knew how it was,” he said.

“We hadn’t been together that long when I was asked to move to Bristol, and I wasn’t sure if she would say yes, but she did, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

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“She keeps me grounded. She’s been my rock. Without being too soppy, she was always there for me, which is the main thing in my business because it can be precarious.”

In another interview, which took place last month with Farmers’ Guardian, Mr Craven talked about the difficulties of filming in the early days of Countryfile.

He said: “In the very early days of Countryfile, it was very difficult to get cameras onto farms and to get farmers to speak to us.

“It took a long time to win farmers over and let them open the gates of the farm and let us in.”