In an interview with the Telegraph Magazine, Clare Balding said: "Interesting you should say that. I have never run a business. I've never been involved with developing a product. That is all going to change."
The 55-year-old broadcaster, known for fronting the Olympics, Crufts, Wimbledon, the Boat Race and the Paralympics, said the new "challenge" is "to do with dogs and it's really exciting".
She is keeping the project under wraps, but Jack Rear of the Telegraph Magazine said she had shared a "couple of other intriguing hints". Balding revealed that the project involves "ingredients" but is "not a dog food", and that she has been working on it in Preston, Lancashire.
Step away from sport
It would not be her first move away from sports broadcasting. Balding appeared in the 2025 series of Celebrity Traitors, the Claudia Winkleman-helmed reality show, alongside Alan Carr, Celia Imrie and Jonathan Ross.
Commonwealth Games exit
Last month, reports emerged that Balding will not present the 2026 Commonwealth Games - the first time she has not fronted the coverage in 20 years. The BBC has lost the rights as it reduces its live sports coverage, with TNT Sports set to take over live TV and digital media.
Balding first hosted the Games in Melbourne in 2006 and went on to front four more Games. She has also been the BBC's lead TV host for the Olympics since 2004.
Health scare
In other news, Balding recently described how she first spotted a serious illness after seeing herself on screen. While presenting the Olympia International Horse Show, she recorded an opening link and noticed a change to her neck.
Speaking on the Stick To Rugby podcast, she said: "It was an odd one because I hadn't really noticed feeling any different and I was (presenting) show jumping at Christmas when it was at Olympia and I recorded an opening link. And I was watching it back on the monitor as I was about to go live, and I'm looking at the monitor and you know that if you don't really look at yourself in the mirror, you don't really notice anything? I was looking at the monitor and I saw this big lump on my neck, like a big lump and I thought that's really weird. And I felt it and I was like 'where has that come from?'"
