Former Newsround presenter John Craven has spoken out about the risky career move that almost ended his relationship with his now wife.
Discussing his 2019 memoir Headlines and Hedgerows with MailOnline, the presenter reflected on his career, meeting his wife and how one move to Bristol almost cost him relationship.
The ex Countryfile host, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for over five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
However, when asked to move to Bristol for a children’s current affairs programme called Search – where he got his big break – he almost let his soulmate slip through his fingers.
Reflecting on when he first met the production secretary on Look North, he said he was taken a back by the ‘strong northern woman, and all I had been looking for’.
Former Newsround presenter John Craven has opened up about the risky career move that almost ended his relationship with his now wife
The ex Countryfile host, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for over five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne
He added: ‘It helped that she worked in TV. She knew how it was.’
‘We hadn’t been together that long when I was asked to move to Bristol and I wasn’t sure if she would say yes, but she did, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Describing his wife as his ‘rock’ who keeps him grounded, the presenter said: ‘Without being too soppy, she was always there for me, which is the main thing in my business because it can be precarious.
‘You’re very exposed, and it’s always good to be able to get that reassurance.’
He was married only once prior to his beloved Marilyn, however his ex-wife only received one line in his autobiography.
The lovebirds now have two daughters called Victoria and Emma as well as five grandchildren.
Always hard-working the Newsround host only missed one day of the show – for the birth of his first daughter.
According to John, the second child ‘had the consideration to arrive on a Saturday’.
Newsround was the BBC’s bid at making current affairs more accessible, however it was still a ‘huge gamble’ according to the legendary journalist.
‘It could have been a disaster, and it would have been awful having my name attached to it.’
The former Countryfile host revealed he feared a move to Bristol for his career would dash his relationship hopes with now wife Marilyn (pictured: John in the early 1970s)
Luckily for the legendary journalist, his future wife was open to the adventure, he said: ‘It helped that she worked in TV. She knew how it was’
Thanks to the move John got his first big break on a children’s current affairs programme called Search (pictured left to right: Chris Rogers, John Craven and Julie Etchingham on Newsround)
He quipped the show was a massive success because ‘in those days, without remote controls, it wasn’t worth getting up to turn the channel over’.
Due to the show’s popularity, mostly every child across the UK knew who John Craven was.
This came in handy for John especially when those young viewers grew up to be BBC bosses.
Reminiscing about the day he visited the then controller of BBC1, Danny Cohen, he said: ‘You think, ‘He’s a young thruster. Will he tell me I’ve been around too long?’
‘Then we walked into his glass-panelled room and he said, ’01 811 8055′, because he used to watch Swap Shop and try to get through on the phone lines.’
John’s stellar TV career did not begin and end with Newsround. He also starred alongside the likes of Noel Edmonds and Keith Chegwin on Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore.
Having also presented Countryfile and Beat The Brain, John is also one of the nine presidents for the Young People’s Trust For The Environment.
John described Newsround as a ‘huge gamble’ adding: ‘It could have been a disaster, and it would have been awful having my name attached to it’ (Pictured left to right in 2006: Maggie Philbin, Noel Edmonds, John Craven and Keith Chegwin)
