Matt Baker has opened up about his time on Blue Peter, admitting that having his famous dog Meg on the set was "a nightmare". The 48-year-old presenter, who hosted the iconic children's show between 1999 and 2006, shared the behind-the-scenes struggle during an interview with Harry Hill on The Harry Hill Show on YouTube.
A Working Collie in a Studio
During the conversation, Harry joked about Matt walking off "with the dog", prompting Matt to explain that Meg had never actually belonged to Blue Peter. He said: "The dog was never actually owned by Blue Peter because she came from a neighbour's farm in Durham. She was a working collie."
Meg's appearance on the show came about after a request Matt made during his audition. He recalled: "It's interesting because when I went down for the Blue Peter auditions, they said to me, 'Of all the things that you've seen on Blue Peter recently, what would you have liked to have done?' expecting me to say 'Jump out of an aeroplane'.
"I said 'Train the dogs…I'd like to train the dogs. I want a proper dog that can, you know, jump through fire hoops and do all of that and have an action dog, and this dog will come everywhere with me, and that's what I'd love'. So I got Meg from a neighbour's farm, she was a working sheep dog and she came down."
'Desperate to Round Everything Up'
However, Matt soon realised there was an issue with Meg's original training when she was brought into the studio environment. He said: "I mean it was a nightmare having a working border collie in a Blue Peter studio. You can imagine, you've got the Harlem Globe Trotters warming up in the corner, you've got a BMX group and the doors are opening up because a double decker bus is about to come in and this dog is just desperate to round everything up."
Despite the challenges, Matt paid tribute to Meg as a "beautiful" dog and revealed she soon learned that the Blue Peter theme tune meant she could have some free time. He recalled: "She learned that the Blue Peter theme tune was her indication that my attention wasn't going to be on and she could run off and do whatever she wanted."
Meg, who died in 2011, had become synonymous with the show, and Matt left Blue Peter in 2006 with her. Matt is returning to UK screens tonight (Sunday, October 4th) on Countryfile at 5.40pm on BBC One.
