TV host Kate Humble has admitted she thinks nothing of taking her clothes off outdoors.
The 57-year-old, who lives in Monmouthshire, is best-known for hosting wildlife programmes, including Springwatch, Living With Nomads, Wild In Africa and Volcano Live, amongst others. And in the past she has shared how she isn’t shy about stripping in the open air.
Now she’s back on our screens alongside Ben Fogle with a new series of BBC’s Animal Park, the popular documentary series chronicling the lives of keepers and animals at Longleat Safari and Adventure Park, Wiltshire..
Here we take a look at her surprise acting career, life in Wales with her TV producer and director husband and what she’s said about stripping off outdoors.
Getting naked
Kate once enjoyed a quick skinny dip alongside artist Natasha Brook during an instalment of BBC2’s Off The Beaten Track, reports the Mirror..
“I do like taking my clothes off and feeling at one with nature,” Kate previously told the Mirror. She continued: “Sometimes I get completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the environment around me and it just seems the most natural way to experience it.”
The television host also disclosed on Rob Brydon’s programme The Guess List that “if you’re in a very beautiful place there is something very celebratory about having a little nudey dance”.
Kate’s impromptu celebrations have earned her some surprising admirers as she observed: “The Naturist Society loves me now! It’s hilarious. In fact, I’ve had some very lovely messages from naturists.”
Married life in Wales
Kate lives on a farm in Monmouthshire with her TV producer and director husband Ludo Graham and the pair first crossed paths when she was 16, tying the knot when she was 23.
Kate has been remarkably candid about her decision not to have children, stating on ITV’s Lorraine: “I don’t want them, I’ve never wanted them.”
She has previously discussed how during her teenage years she recognised she lacked what she describes as the “maternal gene”. In an interview with Woman’s Weekly magazine, she stated: “I don’t think it’s anybody’s business but I think it’s just easier if I just come out and say, ‘I don’t want them, I’ve never wanted them’. I know it sounds dreadful but that’s just how I feel.”
When quizzed by The Guardian about the love of her life she responded: “It’s a toss-up between my husband and my dogs, Teg and Mouse.”
The pair have collaborated professionally, and when she fronted Escape to the Farm on Channel 5, Ludo directed the series. She told Hello! at the time: “I was quite nervous – I think he was too – but without sounding like an overly adoring wife, he is very good at what he does and has been doing it for a very long time.”
Career
Kate once ventured into modelling. In a Guardian interview she disclosed: “I lived in Cape Town, and I was spotted on the street and signed up by a modelling agency. I did about three shoots before I realised I hate having my photograph taken and I like food.”
While Kate is mainly recognised as a television presenter, she initially pursued acting before coming a TV researcher and then presenter..
In 1990, Kate appeared in the television production Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, credited as “Lauren Heston … The redhead”.
At the time, she was working as an assistant to a casting director searching for an actress to perform a brief nude scene, a role she ultimately secured herself. Her co-stars included Jason Connery and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Animal Park is on BBC One on weekdays at 9.30am and BBC iPlayer
