Matt Baker

Seven and a half years on Blue Peter established Matt Baker as one of the best loved and most versatile presenters in the show's history, winning him two BAFTA awards for Best Children's presenter and a Royal Television Society award.

Staying with the BBC, he then moved to The One Show as co-host Monday to Thursday evenings and as an ongoing co-presenter of the channel’s top rating & award-winning Sunday night Countryfile series. Matt also presented Secret Britain for BBC1 and was a finalist in Strictly Come Dancing 2010. Matt also took part in the 2011 Strictly Live Tour where he won a record-breaking number of shows.

Matt Baker was born in Durham where he grew up in the Dales on his family's sheep farm. His love of the countryside and animals made him the natural choice for fronting such shows as Animal Rescue Squad for Five, One Man and His Dog, Summer Countryfile Diaries, Crufts, Animal Rescue and a BBC NE natural history series. He is also the current president of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs.

Matt left Blue Peter in 2006 and began fronting BBC Daytime shows, including the BBC1 City Hospital series. His other BBC credits include hosting the Evacuation series, and two series of The Stables Live 8. He presented Jonny Wilkinson's Hotshots rugby plus Jonny's rugby training DVD. He has also starred in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium and Sunderland Empire and as Prince Charming in Cinderella at the Sheffield Lyceum.

Matt Baker's exceptional physical prowess has allowed him to complete an impressive number of television challenges: he trained as a stunt man in Florida; spent a gruelling week with the Royal Marine Commandos, successfully passing their recruits' course, and later completed the Para's P Company selection tests. He also made the final of BBC Sport Relief's charity show jumping series Only Fools on Horses.

In 2011, Matt undertook his most daunting challenge to date: The One Show Rickshaw Challenge. He spent 8 days pedalling a rickshaw from Edinburgh to London, covering well over 480 miles. The feat saw Matt raise an incredible amount - in excess of £1.7 million - for BBC Children In Need.

Matt Baker has hosted many large scale live concerts including a series of children's concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Road Shows, 4 Family Proms in Hyde Park and many live Proms from the Albert Hall; he co-presented three series of Making Tracks for BBC Radio 3 and was a long-running presenter of Open Country for Radio 4.

He studied for a BA (Hons) Acting at Queen Margaret's in Edinburgh, but after only eighteen months into the course he was snapped up as the 28th Blue Peter presenter - the rest is history!

Matt Baker is in high demand for corporate speaking and presenting work and commercial voice-overs.