Countryfile star Ellie Harrison feels resigned to being replaced on the show by a new “hot” woman.
The 37-year-old presenter thinks it’s inevitable, despite former presenter Miriam O’Reilly, 58, successfully suing the BBC for age discrimination after being dropped from the line-up in a 2009 revamp.
She said: “It’s a funny business and the nature of the beast with females is that what you get is not down to you.
“You are hot one year but completely out of favour the next. I know next year someone will be hotfooting it. I accept that and I know that.”
Countryfile producers made Ellie aware of her look from the start in 2011.
After her first episode, the mum-of-two, who was brought up in the country, was ordered to be “less Hollywood” and not so “blonde”.
But even if Countryfile keeps Ellie in distinctly unglamorous green wellies, her natural style and warmth have made her popular with male and female viewers.
And she is determined to stay for as long as possible with co-presenters John Craven, 74, and Matt Baker, 37, on a programme pulling in seven million Sunday teatime viewers.
She said: “It’s a brilliant job but I don’t sit back on my laurels. I love Countryfile and it’s a great show.
"It has stood the test of time because it is a trusted brand. The show has been on for a long time and people know what they are going to get.
“It is on at a great time and it’s so much broader than it used to be.
“And I’d love to do Countryfile for a long time. But decisions are made way above you. If you are a head of a channel, you have to keep viewers interested.
“It can be quite political.”
As Miriam O’Reilly found out, when she won her groundbreaking case against the BBC in January 2011.
Other female broadcasters to accuse TV bosses of sexism and ageism include newsreaders Selina Scott, 63, and 71-year-old Anna Ford.
At 37, Ellie seems a long way under the ageism radar, which makes her fear of the chop all the more surprising.
After growing up in the western farming region of Cirencester, Glos, the King’s College Ecology graduate enjoyed wildlife adventures in Africa.
Her TV career took off after standing in for Michaela Strachan on Michaela’s Wild Challenge, which won her a BAFTA in 2005.
After a series of jobs, including The One Show, Ellie was a perfect fit for Countryfile.
But it might not have happened, if it wasn’t for her first of two daughters, now six.
The pregnancy led Ellie to turn down a plum job in America.
She said: “I lived there for a while when my other half had a job and I got a series, with Discovery.
"The only had male presenters at the time and I was British, which was unheard of. I got the job, and then got pregnant.”
Ellie turned it down because she had to be back at work six weeks after the birth.
Now Ellie is fronting a new series for BBC1 called Secret Britain in which she and Countryfile’s celebrity farmer Adam Henson, 49, find places with hidden stories.
She visits Britain’s highest pub on Tan Hill and Loch Morar in Scotland as well as conquering her own fear of tight spaces by venturing into the UK’s deepest cave.
But Ellie said many viewers didn’t want to reveal their favourite places, fearing they would be overrun and ruined.
She said: “When we put the call out to find secret places, most people wrote back to say they weren’t going to tell us.
"It was really funny they bothered to write to say they weren’t going to say.”
John Craven's Countryfile career in pictures :
As for Ellie’s secret place, it’s at home, somewhere in the Cotswolds.
She lives there with partner Dr Matt Goodman, who popped the question when she was 27.
They have been engaged ever since and have two daughters. She said: “He is the love of my life but we are not married. He asked me years ago and I still wear the ring.”
She added: “It’s a joy of a job and the children are used to me being away now.
"As a mother, there is that permanent guilt but it’s important for your children to see you working.
“Sitting around on your arse all day won’t do.”
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