Matt Baker is a British television presenter whose career has taken him from children’s entertainment to some of the UK’s best-known factual and lifestyle programmes. Recognised for his work on Blue Peter, Countryfile and The One Show, he has also built a successful career producing programmes about farming, wildlife and family life.
Unlike many television personalities, Baker has maintained a close connection with the rural environment where he grew up. His experience of working with animals and understanding agricultural life has shaped much of his broadcasting career.
Beyond television, he is a husband, father, author and charity fundraiser. His recent projects have brought viewers closer to his family’s farm in County Durham, including a new series launched in October 2026.
This Matt Baker biography explores his early life, professional achievements, marriage, children, farming interests and latest television work.
Quick Bio
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Matthew James Baker |
| Known As | Matt Baker |
| Date of Birth | 23 December 1977 |
| Age | 48 years (October 2026) |
| Birthplace | Easington, County Durham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Television presenter, producer and author |
| Spouse | Nicola Mooney (married 2004) |
| Children | Two — Luke and Molly |
| Parents | Mike and Janice Baker |
| Known For | Blue Peter, Countryfile, The One Show |
| Notable Books | A Year on Our Farm (2021), My Dogs & Me (2026) |
| Honour | MBE (2022) |
Who Is Matt Baker?
Matt Baker is an established British broadcaster known for presenting programmes about countryside life, entertainment, sport and human-interest stories. His television career began in 1999 when he joined the BBC children’s programme Blue Peter.
He subsequently became a familiar face on BBC One, particularly through The One Show and Countryfile. His broadcasting work combines live presenting, outdoor reporting, interviews and documentary production.
His interests extend beyond television studios. Growing up around sheep farming gave him practical experience with livestock and agricultural routines, which later became important parts of his programmes.
Baker has also developed his own production projects through Big Circus Media, allowing him to explore stories involving farming families, rural communities and British landscapes.
Matt Baker’s Early Life and Education
Growing Up in County Durham
Matthew James Baker was born on 23 December 1977 in Easington, County Durham. He spent his early childhood on a smallholding in Easington, where his family kept animals. When he was 10, his parents moved to a farm west of Durham, where he developed a deeper connection with farming and countryside life.
Living in a rural environment gave him an early understanding of animal care, changing seasons and the physical demands of farming. These experiences would later influence his television work.
As a young person, he was also interested in gymnastics and sports acrobatics. He achieved success in competitive gymnastics, developing physical skills that became useful during the adventurous challenges associated with his early television career.
Education and Interest in Performing
Baker studied drama in Edinburgh before entering professional broadcasting. His interest in performance offered a different direction from his agricultural upbringing.
When an opportunity arose to audition for Blue Peter, he prepared an unusual showreel combining presenting with activities such as riding a unicycle and performing around the farm.
The audition helped launch a television career that would eventually span children’s programming, entertainment, sport and documentaries.
How Matt Baker Started His Television Career
Breakthrough on Blue Peter
In 1999, Baker joined Blue Peter, one of Britain’s longest-running children’s television programmes. He remained a presenter until 2006.
The programme gave him opportunities to interview guests, explore unfamiliar environments and attempt demanding physical challenges. His gymnastics experience proved particularly useful during adventurous filming assignments.
His work also earned professional recognition. During his time on the programme, he received two BAFTA awards for children’s presenting and a Royal Television Society award.
Blue Peter established his reputation as a versatile presenter comfortable with both serious subjects and light-hearted entertainment.
Moving Beyond Children’s Television
After leaving Blue Peter, Baker expanded his career into mainstream factual programming, outdoor broadcasting and sports coverage.
Rather than remaining associated with one television format, he gradually developed a broad professional identity.
His experience interviewing people, handling live broadcasts and working in challenging locations helped prepare him for presenting roles aimed at adult audiences.
Matt Baker on The One Show
Baker became a regular co-presenter of BBC One’s The One Show in 2011, working alongside Alex Jones.
The programme covers a wide range of subjects, including entertainment, current affairs, culture, science and personal experiences. It requires presenters to move comfortably between serious conversations and lighter discussions.
Baker remained a regular host until 2020, completing approximately nine years on the programme.
His departure marked an important career transition, but it did not mean he retired from broadcasting. He continued developing documentary and countryside-related projects while maintaining his established connection with BBC television.
Matt Baker and Countryfile
Countryfile is one of the programmes most closely associated with Baker’s career. He became a regular presenter in 2009 and has continued appearing on the BBC countryside series.
The programme explores rural communities, conservation, farming, wildlife and environmental concerns across Britain.
His continued involvement was evident on 25 October 2026, when he appeared in the Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need. The special episode brought together presenters and young people supported by BBC Children in Need-funded projects for walks through the Peak District.
Why His Farming Experience Matters
Baker’s background gives him a practical perspective on many subjects covered by Countryfile.
He understands that farming involves more than attractive countryside scenery. Farmers must manage animal welfare, difficult weather, land maintenance and financial pressures.
His reporting frequently involves meeting people whose livelihoods depend on agriculture or the natural environment.
This combination of broadcasting experience and personal familiarity with rural life has become a distinctive feature of his presenting style.
Matt Baker’s Farm Life and Family Background
Farming has remained an important part of Baker’s personal and professional life.
His parents, Mike and Janice Baker, are closely associated with the family’s sheep farm in the Durham Dales.
When his mother suffered a serious injury, Baker became more involved in helping his parents manage the property.
That family situation provided the background for Matt Baker: Our Farm in the Dales, which premiered on More4 in 2021.
The series followed the practical challenges of maintaining the farm and adapting aspects of the property to make everyday life easier for his parents.
Rather than portraying farming as an entirely peaceful lifestyle, the programme demonstrated the responsibilities involved in looking after animals, buildings and agricultural land.
Its success led to further series and strengthened Baker’s position as a presenter and producer of rural television.
Our Dream Farm and Other Television Projects
Baker expanded his farming-related work with National Trust: Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker.
The first series, broadcast in 2024, followed the search for new tenants for a National Trust farm on the Wallington Estate in Northumberland.
A second series aired in 2025 and followed applicants competing for a farm tenancy in Eryri, North Wales.
The programme explored the challenges involved in establishing a farming business, including livestock management, environmental responsibilities and financial planning.
Unlike Our Farm in the Dales, which focused on his own family, Our Dream Farm concentrated on other farmers and their opportunities to build agricultural careers.
He has also presented Matt Baker: Travels with Mum & Dad, bringing his parents into travel programmes exploring places across Britain.
What Is Matt Baker Doing in 2026?
Baker remains active in television production and presenting.
In June 2025, he launched Matt Baker’s British Isles, a More4 series exploring the people, locations and traditions of the United Kingdom.
During 2026, he also introduced Matt Baker’s Petcast in collaboration with Radio Times, discussing the importance of animals in his guests’ lives.
Our Barn in the Dales
One of his most significant new projects is Matt Baker: Our Barn in the Dales, which premiered on More4 on 13 October 2026.
The programme follows Baker and his wife Nicola as they undertake the conversion of an old barn, granary and stable beside his parents’ farmhouse.
Their ambition is to transform the buildings into a family home while maintaining their connection with the working farm.
The series combines property renovation with the everyday responsibilities of rural life, continuing the family-focused storytelling introduced in Our Farm in the Dales.
Matt Baker’s Wife and Marriage
Matt Baker is married to Nicola Mooney. The couple married in 2004 after meeting when they were younger.
Nicola has generally maintained a lower public profile than her husband, although she has appeared alongside him in family-focused television programmes.
Their marriage has remained an important part of Baker’s life throughout his television career.
In recent years, viewers have seen Nicola become more involved in programmes documenting the family’s agricultural projects.
Their work together on Our Barn in the Dales also demonstrates how their plans for a family home connect with the wider responsibilities of looking after Baker’s parents’ farm.
Matt Baker’s Children and Private Life
Matt and Nicola have two children, Luke and Molly.
Although Baker occasionally discusses family life in interviews and programmes, he does not make every aspect of his children’s personal lives public.
His family has appeared in some of his countryside productions, allowing viewers to see how domestic routines and agricultural responsibilities overlap.
Animals are another important part of the household. Dogs, sheep and other farm animals have featured prominently in his television work.
His family-focused programmes offer an insight into his interests outside mainstream broadcasting without requiring every personal detail to become public.
Gymnastics, Strictly Come Dancing and Sporting Career
Before becoming a television presenter, Baker had considerable experience in gymnastics and sports acrobatics.
That background later helped him establish a role in sports broadcasting, particularly as a presenter and commentator covering major gymnastics competitions.
He has contributed to BBC coverage of Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and international gymnastics championships.
Strictly Come Dancing Success
In 2010, Baker competed in the eighth series of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.
His previous experience in gymnastics helped him approach physically demanding dance routines, although competitive ballroom dancing required different techniques.
He finished as runner-up in the competition, demonstrating another side of his abilities to television audiences.
Charity Work and MBE Recognition
Baker has been closely involved with BBC Children in Need, particularly through the Rickshaw Challenge.
In 2011, he completed a demanding rickshaw journey from Edinburgh to London to raise money for the charity.
He subsequently remained involved in fundraising challenges, supporting young participants and helping bring attention to charitable causes.
His efforts received official recognition when Matt Baker was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours.
The honour recognised his charitable and voluntary services to fundraising, including his contribution as a Children in Need trustee.
Matt Baker as an Author and Producer
Alongside television presenting, Baker has pursued writing and production.
His book A Year on Our Farm: How the Countryside Made Me was published in September 2021.
The book explores the changing seasons, family experiences and his relationship with the natural world. It also reflects on the connection between his childhood and professional life.
In October 2026, Baker released another book, My Dogs & Me: My Best Friends and What They Taught Me. The book explores his lifelong relationship with dogs, sharing personal memories and lessons about companionship, family and life in the countryside.
As a creative director at Big Circus Media, he has taken a more active role in developing television content.
This progression allows him to contribute to programmes beyond his on-screen presenting responsibilities.
Why Matt Baker Remains Popular
Baker’s career has developed across several areas of British television without completely abandoning the interests that shaped his childhood.
His professional experience includes children’s entertainment, live discussion programmes, natural history, sports broadcasting and farming documentaries.
An important distinction is that his rural programmes are connected to practical family experiences rather than presenting the countryside solely as a travel destination.
His recent work also reflects a broader change in his career: from being primarily a presenter to helping create and produce programmes built around subjects he knows well.
Conclusion
Matt Baker has built a varied television career through Blue Peter, The One Show, Countryfile and numerous countryside documentaries.
His achievements extend into gymnastics coverage, charity fundraising, writing and television production. Meanwhile, his marriage to Nicola and connection with his parents’ farm remain central themes in his more personal programmes.
With Our Barn in the Dales arriving in October 2026, Baker continues to develop projects that connect his broadcasting career with family life, farming and Britain’s rural communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Matt Baker in 2026?
Matt Baker was born on 23 December 1977. He is 48 years old as of October 2026 and will turn 49 on 23 December 2026.
Who is Matt Baker’s wife?
Matt Baker’s wife is Nicola Mooney. They married in 2004 and have appeared together in television programmes documenting their family farming projects.
How many children does Matt Baker have?
Matt Baker has two children with his wife Nicola. Their names are Luke and Molly. The family maintains a degree of privacy despite appearing in selected television productions.
Does Matt Baker still present Countryfile?
Yes. Baker remains associated with BBC One’s Countryfile, although he also spends time developing and presenting other television programmes through his production work.
What is Matt Baker doing now?
As of October 2026, Baker is presenting Our Barn in the Dales on More4. His other recent work includes Matt Baker’s British Isles, Our Dream Farm and his 2026 podcast, Matt Baker’s Petcast.
What is Matt Baker’s net worth?
There is no reliably verified public figure establishing Matt Baker’s personal net worth. His professional work includes television presenting, production, publishing and other media activities, but online wealth estimates should not be treated as confirmed financial information.
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