presenter John Craven confessed “I’m a bad omen” in a tragic admission.
The presenter first joined the show in 1989, only leaving after more than 30 years in 2023. And despite living in a rural Oxfordshire village near Banbury, he confessed he never felt “accepted” by fellow country folk.
Speaking in 2014, John told Radio Times that since joining Countryfile, he’d caused a spate of tragedies. He said: “There’s been mad cow disease, listeria, salmonella, bovine TV, foot-and-mouth and Schmallenberg virus, which is pretty horrible. I’ve been a bit of a bad omen.”
The star added: “I think of myself as very much a country person, although I know I’ll never be fully accepted. But I like to think, as we try to prove on the show, that there’s room for everyone in the countryside.”
He added: “There was an idea that you weren’t a true country person unless you believed in hunting. I don’t believe that to be true. I think there are a lot of country people who don’t agree with hunting.”
John Craven has presented Countryfile since 1989
John wasn’t born in the country – he grew up in Leeds and attended Leeds Modern School, leaving aged 16 and beginning an apprenticeship at Yorkshire Copperworks.
It comes after John confessed: “I’m getting on a bit” when discussing his potential retirement. The 84-year-old confessed on The One Show that he doesn’t see himself as a “living legend”.
“I don’t really like being called a legend because, yeah, I’m getting on a bit, but I still feel quite useful,” he said.
John considers himself a “bad omen”
Questioned on his favour among viewers, Craven added: “I think it’s because I’m regarded as almost a friend.
“To this day, people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for being part of my childhood. Thanks for telling me what was happening in the world’.”