Michaela Strachan forced to pull out of Winterwatch 2021 after lockdown restrictions leave her stranded in South Africa
MICHAELA Strachan has been forced to pull out of Winterwatch 2021 after lockdown restrictions left her stranded in South Africa.
The 54-year-old presenter lives in South Africa with her family, and with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to wreak havoc around the world, Michaela was unable to fly to the UK to co-host the upcoming series.
Winterwatch 2021 starts later this month but without Michaela at the helm, as the BBC revealed: "Unfortunately due to lockdown restrictions, Michaela Strachan is unable to participate in Winterwatch 2021 this year as a presenter.
"We are all deeply saddened that Michaela is unable to be there in person this time, but she will be in conversation with Chris Packham during the first episode, from her home in South Africa."
Chris, 59, will present the show alongside Iolo Williams, Gillian Burke and Megan McCubbin.
This isn't the first time lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic has stopped Michaela taking part in the show, as she was forced to miss Springwatch last year for the same reason.
Michaela previously shared details of her life in Cape Town with , saying: "I live behind Table Mountain National Park.
";Walking there with my dog Rio has become my solace. It’s also where I met my husband Nick. I was in Cape Town and a friend introduced us.
"After a long walk up the mountain together, a bottle of wine at the top and a cable car down, I knew he was the one."
Meanwhile Chris has spoken about how nature is more important than ever considering what has happened in the last 12 months, ahead of Winterwatch's return.
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He said: "Nature has never been more important, as more people have reached out engaged with and embraced it more than ever before.
"This is the because our own species has found its own world stressed and threatened and in such desperate times we have found immediate solace and respite in the simple perfection of nature."
Winterwatch begins on January 19 on BBC One.