Ben Fogle admits his kids’ embarrassment stopped him doing Strictly Come Dancing: ‘I couldn’t bear the shame of it all’

The presenter, 47, on why you won’t see him on Strictly, rhyming TV shows and running topless through the woods.

Your new children’s book has just come out — faced any tough criticism from your two young ones?

My two, Ludo and Iona, have been pretty supportive but they will tell me if I’ve done something they don’t like or if they’re embarrassed by something, for sure.

I was very close to doing Strictly last year [Iona screams in the background ‘No!’] — there you go, you can hear them now! — but they were absolutely adamant it would be the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to them in their lives.

So it didn’t happen because they are my harshest critics and I couldn’t bear the shame of it all.

This is the sixth book in the Mr Dog series. Do you find it easy to write for kids?

I’ve written a lot of books over the years and, without a doubt, writing a children’s book is the hardest. You don’t want to get it wrong with children. They’re unforgiving.

A lot of inspiration for the books comes from your dad’s veterinary business. Did you ever want to follow in his footsteps?

I was desperate to be a vet but, unfortunately, I just wasn’t clever enough. Growing up above my father’s veterinary clinic in London, I was always surrounded by animals.

There were always dogs and cats and birds and reptiles coming up into our part of the house because we didn’t want to leave them in the kennels overnight. It really was very Doctor Dolittle!

In some ways, I am still quite regretful I’ve never been able to follow in his footsteps.

We know you love nothing more than spending time outdoors. Being told to stay indoors for a year must have been a challenge…

I’ve embraced it almost like an inverted expedition. Rather than going outdoors to a faraway place, I was indoors with my family.

I’ve still been able to keep myself busy writing and doing TV, so I’ve had moments of excitement but then also moments of Groundhog Day like everyone else. It’s made me appreciate the simpler things in life, though.

I imagine you would be a great home-schooler. Is that so?

I think Marina [Ben’s wife] is better than me — I had to go to Chernobyl to get out of home-schooling! We’ve tried to do our best.

The school has done a very good job of the home-schooling and we have tried to do a few things they wouldn’t normally do at school.

Speaking of Chernobyl, what was it like out there, filming a documentary for Channel 5?

The access is pretty extraordinary. We went right into the heart of the reactor and the control rooms.

It was particularly strange for me, going from home-schooling, baking bread and walking the dog to suddenly being surrounded by heavily armed people in the Ukraine equipped with dosimeters, PPE for Covid and PPE for radiation. It was very, very strange.

Had you seen the HBO series about the Chernobyl disaster?

I thought it was extraordinary. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was one of the best TV series I’ve ever seen.

I love the fact they underplay everything, and we tried to do something similar in our documentary. It’s very low-key but I think it’s very impactful.

Usually you’re in a far-flung place looking at something wondrous. What was it like facing something much darker?

I’m normally in beautiful, natural areas of mountains, jungle and forest, and this time I was arguably in one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

But, actually, I thrive on diversity, I learn from each and every encounter and experience that I have, and to go to what is on the face of it a wretched, terrible place, I found incredibly empowering because I was able to see the worst of human mistakes but also how humans were able to come together and right this wrong.

The show is called Inside Chernobyl With Ben Fogle… er, you do realise it rhymes, right?

I’ve had a few people commenting that maybe I was only commissioned to do it because it rhymed with my name.

Maybe Constantinople With Ben Fogle could be next?

[Laughs] I haven’t gone through every place that rhymes with my name yet but let’s hope they’re not all radioactive zones.

There were reports of you running topless through the Oxfordshire woods — have you been scaring the locals?

I think a few people were a bit surprised but fortunately we live in quite a remote area so I don’t come across too many people. I hasten to add the reason I run like that — it’s called bare-skin running — is about embracing the cold.

This has been my way of keeping myself healthy and fit over lockdown — and a little bit cold, if I’m honest.

Mr Dog And The Kitten Catastrophe is out now.

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