TV Adventurer Levison Wood Welcomes First Child with Girlfriend Ana Protasio

He was once hailed as Britain’s most eligible bachelor, but Levison Wood has finally waved goodbye to single life and entered the world of fatherhood.

The television star, 43, secretly welcomed his first child, a daughter called Maya, in August, with his girlfriend Ana Protasio – who he hard launched on social media earlier this summer, sharing the exciting baby news on her Instagram.

The former model turned yoga teacher uploaded an image of their newborn with dark hair, wrapped in a white blanket, to her social media account in August.

She also penned the words, ‘Maya Katharine Lima Wood 07/08. For a few days I have been holding my world in my arms!

‘What a magical moment, no word in any language or dialect would be able to describe what it is to be your Mother. I love you, daughter!’

Fans were quick to offer their congratulations, however, Levison, has yet to share any imagery or post of his new bundle of joy.

In June, the great outdoors lover took to Instagram to hard launch his attractive new girlfriend.

The former Army officer-turned-author gushed: ‘Over the years l’ve met many people on the road, but every now and then, someone comes along who doesn’t just travel with you, but changes the pace of the journey entirely. This is Ana.

‘We’ve been exploring a shared path together lately, one filled with plenty of adventures, challenges and commitment. An exciting new chapter awaits.’

The explorer has been open about his desire to find romance in the past, and even admitted to joining dating apps in the hope of doing so.

In an interview with Daily Mail in 2021, the former soldier said: ‘I used dating apps: I don’t see a problem with it. I use them when I want to use them. 

‘That is how people meet these days, isn’t it? How else can you meet your woman?’

Levison also opened up about exactly what his type is, saying: ‘I don’t like to put people into boxes. 

‘If a woman is intelligent, interesting and fun – that is the basis really. I don’t really care what job they do or anything like that. 

‘It is also about being comfortable in somebody’s company and enjoying spending time with them.’ 

After lockdown Levison was the victim of stalking, with the perpetrator jailed for 13 months. 

Fiza Jabeen, a doctor, made Wood so fearful for his and his family’s safety that he decided to sell his London home. 

But after moving – and after Jabeen was made the subject of a restraining order – she tracked him down once again, visiting Levison’s home at the time in Richmond. 

The doctor was jailed for 13 months after admitting one offence of stalking and harassment having sent the TV personality ‘explicit and unpleasant messages’ via social media. 

Levison delves into his extraordinary 20 years as an explorer, during which time he has experienced the amazing and the tragic, in the set of shows.

During an expedition along the 4000-mile long Nile River from Rwanda to Egypt, a journalist travelling with the explorer named Matt Power was overcome with heat stroke and tragically died. Levison called his death ‘a haunting moment that stays with me every day’.

And in his closest brush up with death, Levison almost lost his life during a trek across the Himalayas in 2015.

He came face to face with tigers, crocodiles and even a cannibal on the remarkable journey but it was a short car ride which was almost his undoing. 

After being left with nowhere to sleep as night fell, Levison and his colleagues piled into an SUV and paid the driver to take them to the nearest town in search of a bed. 

As the vehicle wound its way along the treacherous mountain scape, its brake cable snapped throwing it off the edge of a cliff and into a ravine. 

Somehow Levison and all the other passengers survived, with the explorer later saying: ‘We are lucky to be alive’.