Former Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher and his wife Liz have opened up about their venture into farming, revealing how a life-changing dream took an unexpected turn. During a repeat episode of James Martin's Saturday Morning, airing today (June 13) at 9.30am on ITV1, the couple spoke candidly about their journey on the show Fletchers' Family Farm.
The series follows Kelvin, Liz, and their four children as they embrace life on their 18th-century farm in the Peak District. However, farming was not originally part of their plan. Kelvin explained how the ITV programme came about: "We just thought, well, hopefully it's of interest. It's certainly of interest to us, our journey into farming, into this new life. We pitched the idea, and thankfully ITV thought it was a good idea too. Four series later, we're still doing it."
A Dream Derailed by COVID
James Martin noted that the couple originally planned to move to America. Liz confirmed: "As two actors, we thought, let's go to Hollywood and LA and see what happens. We only had two children at the time, but unfortunately COVID stopped that. They stopped the visas. We never got them completed because they said there would be a pause for at least two years. But we had mentally moved on and sold the house. We thought, 'What are we going to do now?' That's when we saw the farm."
From Soap Farmer to Real Farmer
James pointed out that neither Kelvin nor Liz had farming backgrounds. Addressing Kelvin, he said: "You played a farmer for 20 years and knew as much about farming as on a postage stamp." Kelvin replied: "That's the irony. I played a farmer, but in soaps, I did very little farming. It was more shooting people with shotguns, going to prison, getting married. But life has imitated art. People said, 'You played a farmer, now you're living it,' but we never saw it that way. We had this dream of going to America. It didn't pan out. From Los Angeles to the Peak District is not an obvious connection."
He added: "It was a gamble. We didn't move there to farm. It evolved. We went for a quieter life, connected with nature. Then, where we live, everyone has sheep, so we got a few." Liz revealed they moved for an "idyllic life" and quickly became "obsessed" with farming after acquiring ten sheep.
Overwhelming but Loved
Kelvin confessed: "We're only a small family farm, but it's been a bit overwhelming at times. We've become obsessed, and I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it." Liz concluded: "Looking back, I don't think we would have lasted two minutes in LA!" She added that she loves the opportunity to "amend your failings" on the farm.
Fletchers' Family Farm and James Martin's Saturday Morning are available to stream on ITVX.
