‘I was like, “What's a ewe?

Kelvin and Liz Fletcher on swapping city life for the countryside

- HANNAH DAVIES

KELVIN’S BIG FARMING ADVENTURE NEW MONDAY / BBC1 / 8.30PM (TIMES VARY) / EP 1 of 6 / FACTUAL

Having spent two decades playing Emmerdale farmer Andy Sugden, Kelvin Fletcher is no stranger to lugging hay bales and driving tractors. But the actor is a self-confessed ‘townie’, whose first encounter with the countryside came at the age of 12 when, in 1996, he was cast in the ITV soap.

However, this hasn’t stopped Kelvin and his actor wife, Liz, from buying a 120-acre, 18th-century farm in the stunning Peak District, and moving there with their two children – daughter Marnie, five, and three-year-old son Milo – to become rookie sheep farmers.

Cameras followed the family’s life-changing journey for a new sixpart series, Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure, which starts this week.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Strictly 2019 champion Kelvin, who turns 38 on 17 January, and Liz – who are expecting their third child – tell TV Times more…

Why did you decide to buy a farm?

KELVIN Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve wanted to live in the countryside, and recent events have made me want to do that even more.

So the idea of buying a farm came about as one of my crazy ideas that I suggested to Liz, and fast-forward a couple of months and here we are in the thick of it!

What was it like having a camera crew filming this adventure?

KELVIN It’s kind of weird that a TV production company has followed our journey, because at times you feel pretty vulnerable and it’s all been captured for the nation to see.