Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer.

Early life

Born in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greate ...

. In her teens, she suffered from anorexia. Later, while at ArtsEd, London, she briefly held jobs as an

Avon lady Avon Products, Inc. or simply known as Avon, is an American-British multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care company, based in London. It sells directly to the public. Avon had annual sales of $9.1 billion worldwide in ...

and as a kissogram. After her years at ArtsEd, Strachan performed in theatre, before moving on to children's television. In 1984, she appeared in the musical '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool.

Career

Television

Strachan was a presenter on Saturday-morning television in the 1980s, involved in such programmes as '' Good Morning Britain'' and '' Wide Awake Club'' with Timmy Mallett. In 1988, she hosted ''Boogie Box'' on music channel

Music Box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae ...

. From 1988 to 1992, Strachan starred as "Her" in the nightclub-set music show '' The Hitman and Her'' alongside

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

. In 1993, Strachan joined '' The Really Wild Show'', a wildlife programme for children on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...

. She was a regular reporter for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

's ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker ...

'' for many years until the programme underwent a primetime Sunday evening revamp in April 2009. Her move to South Africa prevented her from committing fully to the new show. While filming an item for ''

'' in 2002, Strachan entered the World Gurning competition at

Egremont Crab Fair Egremont is a market town, civil parish and two electoral wards in Cumbria, England, and historically part of Cumberland. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen. The town, which ...

. To her surprise she won the Ladies' World Gurning Crown. Strachan co-presented two series of '' Orangutan Diary'' with

Steve Leonard Stephen Leonard (born 4 September 1972 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish veterinarian and television personality. Early life Leonard's family moved to Cheshire from Northern Ireland when he was six weeks ol ...

for

. These series followed the daily routines at a reserve for orphaned orangutans in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

and the work of Lone Drøscher Nielsen and her team in rescuing and rehabilitating the orangutans. They were broadcast in 2006 and 2008. She told ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' that her greatest inspiration is Lone Drøscher Nielsen who "works under very difficult conditions and shows an all-consuming dedication to these animals". In November 2013, she presented the six-part series ''The Great Penguin Rescue'' on the Eden channel. In January 2014, she was a contestant in series 2 of celebrity diving TV Show '' Splash!''. In August 2022, ''Digging For Treasure: Tonight'' premiered on Channel 5; Strachan is co-presenting the

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

series with Dan Walker and archaeologist Raksha Dave. In 2022, Strachan will present ''Extreme Conservation'' which will be shown on BBC World News and BBC Reel.

''Springwatch'' and ''Autumnwatch''

Strachan, with Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games, presented BBC Two's ''Autumnwatch'' in late 2011. For the first four weeks it was presented from the National Arboretum at Westonbirt. For the final four weeks, it was presented from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust's Slimbridge reserve. Michaela Strachan that series replaced

Kate Humble Katherine Mary Humble (born 12 December 1968) is an English television presenter and narrator, mainly working for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes. Humble served as President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Bi ...

. She has also replaced Humble on ''

Springwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The p ...

'' since 2012 after Humble decided to pursue other projects.

Music

Strachan has also had a brief music career as "Michaela" with two UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s; a cover of

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one ...

's " H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" ( UK No. 62, 1989) and "Take Good Care of My Heart" (UK No. 66, 1990). She is mentioned in the song " Michaela Strachan You Broke My Heart (When I Was 12)" by Scouting for Girls.

Personal life

Strachan married filmmaker Duncan Chard in 1996, but they divorced five years later. On 8 June 2005, she gave birth to her son Oliver by partner Nick Chevallier. The couple live in Hout Bay,Personal Stuff
''Michaela Strachan''. Retrieved 25 January 2014

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

with Chevallier's children. She is a celebrity supporter of the charity

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the wor ...

as a child sponsor. She also supports their Alternative Gifts charity; life-changing gifts for communities in the developing world. She is allergic to elephants. In October 2014, she revealed that she had had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery following a diagnosis of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strachan, Michaela 1966 births Living people People from Ewell People educated at the Arts Educational Schools British children's television presenters English television presenters People educated at Claremont Fan Court School English television actresses BAFTA winners (people) English women singers English women writers People from Cape Town British expatriates in South Africa