Julia Bradbury opens up on replacing Alex Jones on The One Show

The 48-year-old TV presenter, who worked closely with Matt Baker, 41, during her three years on the BBC’s Countryfile, said she would be happy to join him on The One Show in Alex Jones’ absence, as the Welsh star is expected to take maternity leave in the coming months after announcing she is expecting her second child. Julia Bradbury insisted she wouldn’t be “jostling for the position”. “I think The One Show are very happy,” she told Express.co.uk. “They have a rota of co-presenters who they are very happy with.”

However, she added: “If Matt was very feeling lonely on the sofa one night and needed a bit of Bradbury next to him then I’d be there in a flash.

“I would be very much there to keep the Baker boy happy.

“Of course I’d love to sit next to him on the sofa, just every now and again,” she continued.

Speaking about the times when she appears on The One Show as a guest, she said of her relationship with Countryfile favourite Matt: “It’s always lovely, we’ve always got a great camaraderie.”

Julia, who recently partnered with Cotswold Outdoor, also has a brand new series, Australia with Julia Bradbury, coming to ITV next week.

The eight-part documentary will see her exploiting the country’s nature and culture, looking at everything from family life Down Under to surf patrolling on Bondi Beach.

She also got stuck in trying her hand on farms, even learning how to pregnancy test cows.

In addition, the mother-of-three spent time with crocodile hunter Chase Johnson.

Julia even Express.co.uk about one “hairy moment” when the pair encountered a croc the size of three sofas which could reach speeds of up to 18 kilometres an hour.

Speaking about her upcoming series, she laughed: “[Matt] would be very proud of my work on the farms and the cattle station.”

Speaking about teaming up with Cotswold Outdoor, Julia said: “Cotswold Outdoor and I share an enthusiasm and a passion for the outdoors.

“For decades, now, on television and I’ve done my walking shows and my outdoor shows,” she continued, saying the partnership “made sense”.

“It’s about encouraging people to spend more time outdoors, how to do that, how to get outdoors more easily and really show all the benefits,” she explained.

The presenter also spoke about the health and mental health benefits of time spent outdoors, saying: “There’s a lot of research out thereon which has categorically proven that time spent outdoors and time spent in green spaces, the appreciation of nature, Vitamin D, all of those things are profoundly good for us as human beings — good for our mental health and good for our wellbeing.

“We’ll be doing joint projects together, The Outdoor Guide co-founder said of her venture with Cotswold Outdoor. “We want to plan the next year and beyond very carefully.

“We are working out what we can do together, how we can engage more people, how we get our message out to more people and get more people to share their stories.”

Julia added: “[We will be] building a community of people who want to share their outdoor adventures with us and then we’ll take it from there.”

Inspiring people and their families to get outdoors, Julia is partnered with one of the UK’s leading outdoor clothing and equipment retailers Cotswold Outdoor, and walking website The Outdoor Guide.

The One Show airs weekdays at 7pm on BBC One.

source: express.co.uk