Newsround presenter John Craven reveals how a risky career move almost cost him his 50-year marriage

Former Newsround presenter John Craven has spoken out about the risky career move that almost ended his relationship with his current 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 a relationship.

The ex-Countryfile presenter, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for more than five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

However, 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 the first meeting with the production secretary at Look North, he said he was taken back by the “strong woman from the north, and everything I was looking for.”

The ex-Countryfile presenter, 83, has been with his wife Marilyn for more than five decades after meeting her during his BBC stint in Newcastle Upon Tyne

He added: ‘It helped that she worked in television. She knew what it was like.”

‘We hadn’t been together 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.

The presenter described his wife as his ‘rock’ who keeps him grounded and said: ‘Without being too weak, she was always there for me, which is the most important thing in my profession because it can be precarious .

“You’re very vulnerable, and it’s always good to get that reassurance.”

He was married only once before his beloved Marilyn, but his ex-wife received only one line in his autobiography.

The lovebirds now have two daughters, Victoria and Emma, ​​and five grandchildren.

The always hard-working Newsround presenter missed just one day of the show – the birth of his first daughter.

According to John, the second child was “considering arriving on Saturday.”

Newsround was an attempt by the BBC to make current affairs more accessible, but according to the legendary journalist it was still a ‘huge gamble’.

“It could have been a disaster, and it would have been terrible if my name was attached to it.”

The former Countryfile presenter revealed he feared a move to Bristol for his career would destroy his hopes of a relationship with his current wife Marilyn (Pictured: John in the early 1970s)

Fortunately for the legendary journalist, his future wife was open to the adventure. He said: ‘It helped that she worked in television. She knew what it was like

The move saw John get his first big break on a children’s current affairs program called Search (pictured from left to right: Chris Rogers, John Craven and Julie Etchingham on Newsround)

He joked that the show was a huge success because “in those days, without remote controls, it wasn’t worth getting up to change the channel.”

Due to the show’s popularity, virtually every child in the UK knew who John Craven was.

This stood John in good stead when those young viewers grew up to become BBC bosses.

Recalling the day he visited BBC1’s then controller Danny Cohen, he said: “You think, ‘He’s a young thruster.’ Will he tell me I’ve been there too long?’

“Then we walked into his glass-paneled room and he said, ’01 811 8055′, because he was looking at Swap Shop and trying to get through on the phone lines.”

John’s stellar TV career didn’t start and end with Newsround. He also starred alongside Noel Edmonds and Keith Chegwin in Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore, among others.

John has also presented Countryfile and Beat The Brain and is also one of 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 if my name was attached to it’ (Pictured from left to right in 2006: Maggie Philbin, Noel Edmonds, John Craven and Keith Chegwin)