Inside the life of Winterwatch host Michaela Strachan from partner to cancer battle

Winterwatch returns to our screens this week, with presenters Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham fronting the latest series.

The 58-year-old, who is best known for her love of the natural world, has been a mainstay on TV for several decades thanks to presenting The Really Wild Show, Countryfile, Springwatch and its seasonal editions and Orangutan Diary.

Currently, the wildlife presenter is on Dancing on Ice with professional partner Mark Hanretty and is one of the favourites to win the series.

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Born and raised in Surrey, Michaela has had to face a few obstacles along the way to finding her happy ending, including fears that she would never become a mother, as well as a terrifying cancer battle that's made her appreciate life all the more.

She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her doting partner Nick Chevallier and their family.

Here is what else we know about Michaela Strachan's life away from TV.

Obscure music career

While many people are familiar with the 58-year-old's presenting career, not all will be aware that she once tried her hand at a different venture off-screen. The TV star embarked on a brief music career under the stage name Michaela back in the late 80s and early 90s.

During the brief stint, Michaela released two singles - H.A.P.P.Y. Radio (1989) and Take Good Care of My Heart (1990). The music hits reached number 62 and 66 in the UK Singles Chart, respectively.

After ditching singing herself, she went onto host the music show The Hitman and Her between 1988 and 1992 with Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman.

Because of her musical background, audiences of The Masked Singer believed Michaela to be the 'mushroom' in the 2022 edition of the show. However, it was later revealed to be Charlotte Church instead.

Cancer battle that gave Michaela 'more resilience'

At the beginning of 2014, Michaela Strachan discovered she had breast cancer during a routine mammogram.

Surgeons advised her to have a double mastectomy since there was a risk of the lobular cancer spreading from one breast to the other.

She went onto have reconstructive surgery and has worked as an ambassador for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, stressing the importance of having regular mammograms.

Thankfully, Michaela is now cancer-free, and believes the health challenges she'd faced have given her a new appreciation for life.

Opening up to Woman & Home magazine in 2022, Michaela explained: "Going through breast cancer also strengthened me. It has given me more resilience and made me appreciate my life more because I realise that something could have ended it early and that's a shock."

She added: "Often, I forget I've had breast cancer. I had a double mastectomy and have slightly funny-looking boobs but, other than that, that's it. I was incredibly lucky."

Her battle with cancer was made more sobering when she lost family members and close friends to cancer in 2024.

Discussing her experience on the On The Marie Curie Couch podcast, the 58-year-old presenter described 2024 as "really sad" and said: "There was a lot of loss in my close circle of family and friends, starting off at the beginning of the year with the passing of my sister-in-law who died of cancer... she suffered for three years and eventually passed in January."

The presenter went on to explain how her partner Nick Chevallier's previous wife passed away due to cancer, which made his sister's passing particularly poignant. Around the same time, Nick's best friend died of a heart attack.

Michaela added her friend Lucy had been diagnosed with a similar kind of cancer, but she also passed away in 2024.

Countryfile departure 'due to vegetarianism'

In 1999, Michaela Strachan became a regular reporter for BBC One's Countryfile and remained so until the programme underwent a primetime Sunday evening revamp in April 2009.

But Michaela Strachan's strong stance as a vegetarian allegedly led her to decline reporting on the meat industry in Countryfile.

During a 2010 employment tribunal investigating the circumstances surrounding her departure from Countryfile, along with co-star Miriam O'Reilly, former boss Andrew Thorman, the BBC's head of rural affairs. claimed: "Michaela was a vegetarian and wasn't happy to do hard-core stories in meat production, such as stories on abattoirs."

The wildlife presenter has been a vegetarian since turning 18 and has her own organic vegetable garden, carbon offsetting through tree planting, and investment in solar panels for green energy.

However, her frequent flights between the UK and South Africa for filming purposes were highlighted by Thorman as a reason for her dismissal, as they often left her unavailable for work commitments. Additionally, Thorman cited that she and Miriam lacked the high profile required for the show's transition to a primetime evening slot in April 2009.

The BBC faced accusations of ageism, with Miriam stating: "All I know is that after 25 years at the BBC my work dried up within months with no good explanation.

"Two senior producers had told me that it was mysterious and suspicious people were telling me that it was not normal."

Michaela Strachan's partner and home life

Michaela was previously married to filmmaker Duncan Chard, who has directed nature series such as Secrets of Wild India (2012) and Alaska: A Year in the Wild (2017). The couple tied the knot in 1996, but decided to call it quits in 2001 due to her wish to have children, something Duncan was unhappy with.

The Winterwatch presenter later met director and cameraman Nick Chevallier in 2003 and they have one child together, 19-year-old Ollie.

Michaela Strachan is stepmother to Nick's children from his previous marriage, namely Jade, aged 37 and 35-year-old twins, Sam and Tom.

Nick and Michaela currently live in Hout Bay, Cape Town where they are near their children.

Sharing the 'secret' to their happiness in a 2018 interview with the Mirror, Michaela divulged: "I think the secret is not to get married. I shouldn't say that. That could be taken well out of context. But maybe the secret is we're apart a lot."