Matt Baker has opened up about raising his two children to be feminists in honour of International Women's Day. The Countryfile presenter is a doting dad to Luke, 14, and Molly, 12, both of whom he shares with his wife of 17 years, Nicola.
During an exclusive chat with HELLO!, the 44-year-old spoke about the importance of feminism and how he can't fathom bringing up his son and daughter as anything but "equal".
WATCH: Matt Baker confirms exciting family news
"I think I'm raising my children to totally realise that gender is not by any means an obstacle," he explained. "As a father, to think you'd want something for your son and not for your daughter is insane. They both do exactly the same stuff if they want to, you just don't even think about saying your daughter should do this or your son should do that."
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Matt, who uprooted his family to the countryside during lockdown, confessed both his children are hard workers and are both expected to complete the same tasks – especially when it comes to farming.
"When you grow up on a farm it's a very practical existence, so when both children get stuck in, whether it's driving, handling the animals, feeding up, grabbing bales or whatever, you just do it," he added.
The TV star shares two children with his wife Nicola
On the important female role models his children have in their life, Matt revealed: "My wife's academic and very practical, my mum's the farmer so my children have very strong female role models, so gender is not even an issue." The TV star also confessed he was lucky enough to "grow up surrounded by powerful women".
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When asked about the most inspirational woman he's met in the public eye, Matt divulged: "I remember there was a female Prime Minister at the time, the Queen was obviously on the throne and I think she's one of the most amazing women I've ever met. I have a lot of respect for the Queen.
"She came to the Blue Peter studio which was fantastic and I've also met her a few other times at Buckingham Palace and interviewed her on her Jubilee. My mum has always been a big inspiration as were my sisters and now my wife is."
Matt pictured with the Queen during a reception to mark Blue Peter's 50th birthday
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that the former One Show host and his wife Nicola will be bringing a third series of Our Farm In The Dales to screens later this year.
Speaking about his working relationship with his wife and the challenges they faced, Matt shared: "It's a very relaxed way of filming, just brilliant fun and I really enjoy it. We film what happens and edit the highlights. Everybody sits round and enjoys the edit as well. I'll show them long clips and we'll decide together which bits we like and which bits we don't like."
He added: "It's not hard at all and it's all my friends that film it so there's a real feeling of fun no matter what the weather's doing! The hardest part is choosing which bits to keep because there's so much good stuff!"
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