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 a move to Bristol almost cost him the relationship.
The former Countryfile presenter, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for over five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
But when he was asked to move to Bristol for a children’s current affairs program 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 at Look North, he said he was taken back by the ‘strong northern woman and everything 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 former Countryfile presenter, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for over five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne (pictured in 1996)
He added: ‘It helped that she worked in TV. She knew what it was like.’
‘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’ that keeps him grounded, the presenter said: ‘Without being too pushy, she was always there for me, which is the most important thing in my business because it can be uncertain.
‘You are very exposed and it is always good to be able to have that security.’
He was married only once before his beloved Marilyn, but his ex-wife only received a 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 her first daughter.
According to John, the second child had ‘considered arriving on a Saturday’.
Newsround was the BBC’s bid to make current affairs more accessible, but it was still a ‘huge gamble’ according to the legendary journalist.
‘It could have been a disaster and it would have been terrible to have my name attached to it.’
The former Countryfile host revealed he feared a move to Bristol because his career would destroy his hopes of a relationship with now wife Marilyn (pictured: John in the early 1970s)
Luckily for the legendary journalist, his wife-to-be was open to the adventure, he said: ‘It helped that she worked in TV. She knew what it was like’
Thanks to the move, John got his first big break on a children’s current affairs program called Search (pictured left to right: Chris Rogers, John Craven and Julie Etchingham on Newsround)
He said the show was a huge success because “in those days, with no remote controls, it wasn’t worth getting up to turn the channel”.
Due to the show’s popularity, pretty much every child across the UK knew who John Craven was.
This was useful for John, especially as the young viewers grew up to be BBC bosses.
Recalling 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 went into his glass-enclosed room and he said, ’01 811 8055′ because he used to watch the Swap Shop and try to get through on the phone lines.’
John’s amazing television career began and did not end with Newsround. He also appeared 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 of the Young People’s Trust For The Environment.
Describing Newsround as a ‘huge gamble’, John added: ‘It could have been a disaster and it would have been terrible to have my name attached to it’ (pictured left to right in 2006: Maggie Philbin, Noel Edmonds, John Craven and Keith Chegwin)