Countryfile fans were left emotional when Matt Baker appeared on BBC's The One Show on Tuesday (October 13) to open up about the heartbreaking loss of his beloved sheepdog Bob, who died in 2025. Speaking alongside actor Paul Bettany, the presenter shared his grief and the arrival of a new companion.
Matt Baker's emotional tribute to Bob
Matt told presenter Alex Jones: “We very sadly lost Bob, who was my wingman as a sheepdog. He was incredible. So it took me a long time to get over the passing of Bob, but I moved on from Bob to Ted. The human names! He’s coming on so beautifully. He’s just over seven months now.”
Paul Bettany chimed in, relating to the loss: “It is amazing, that, because when our dog Pip died, we swore we would never have another dog. We were like seven months into not having a dog and I went, ‘It’s impossible to live without a dog’.”
Fans react with tears and support
Viewers were visibly moved by the segment. One wrote: “It is impossible to live without a dog, you are so very right.” Another added: “Very emotional, love Matt. Sobbed when he first announced Bob's death.”
Matt also reflected on how important dogs have been in his life, explaining: “Well I talk all about that in this book, My Dogs and Me, and actually when I moved down for Blue Peter – we were talking about earlier on how I got that job and moved to London, I’d never been to London before – something was missing and I couldn’t work out what it was. Suddenly I realised it was a dog. Meg came along and we had these incredible adventures on Blue Peter, and suddenly everything was all right again. It’s so important, and I know that’s so relatable to so many people.”
Bob's death and Matt's new dogs
Earlier, in a social media post in May 2026, Matt had admitted Bob had been “gone for a while” but he was “too incredibly sad” to tell people. He wrote: “It’s with a very heavy heart that I’m letting you know our wonderful Bob is no longer with us. He’s been gone a while but I haven’t been able to talk about it as I’ve been finding it so incredibly sad. Bob was a brilliant dog he was there for me with his gentle soul as the ultimate companion through some of the greatest chapters of my life from raising our kids to all the changes we made on our family farm. It’s broken my heart but I feel hugely grateful to have had him in our lives and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for everything he’s taught me and brought to our family. I’m sure all you dog lovers will agree the reason we love our dogs so much is because the only time they break our hearts is when they leave us. RIP Bob X.”
Matt is now dog dad to miniature dachshund Ivy and border collie Ted.
