Television presenter Michaela Strachan proved that age is merely a number when she became the oldest ever finalist on Dancing on Ice at 58 years old. However, behind the scenes of that remarkable achievement, she was battling a painful torn hamstring injury that continues to affect her life a full year later.
Ongoing Struggle with Injury
The Winterwatch presenter, who turns 60 in April, has disclosed that she is still grappling with the consequences of the injury months after the ITV show aired. The persistent pain and limitations have left her feeling 'very down' at various points during her recovery journey.
She revealed that she will 'never be as supple' as she was before participating in the competition. An MRI scan confirmed her worst fears, forcing her to put all her fitness plans on indefinite hold while she focuses on rehabilitation.
The Moment of Injury
Michaela, who was the favourite to win last year's competition before being beaten by Coronation Street actor Sam Aston in the final, suffered the injury during an ambitious lift performance to 'Don't Rain on My Parade.'
'I knew I'd pulled it because I heard it pop. But I didn't know I'd torn it. I've been in physio ever since. I've been in b***** physio ever since,' she confessed to the Mail.
The injury occurred during a spectacular move where she was lifted up and performed splits in mid-air - a manoeuvre that wowed the audience and earned her praise for achieving such physicality at her age.
Restricted Recovery Journey
Following the MRI results that confirmed the torn hamstring, medical professionals advised complete caution. 'Once they did the MRI and found that I'd torn the hamstring, I was completely pulled back. The reins were on,' she explained.
Her rehabilitation programme came with strict limitations: 'They said, "You can do Pilates but you're off yoga, you're off hiking, you're off running. You can swim, but no front crawl."'
Despite the physical and emotional challenges, Michaela maintains a positive outlook: 'There's certainly been times when I've been very down about it, but I've had to stay positive. It's taken me a while to get to a place of thinking let's find a positive in the negative of this.'
Television Career Evolution
Michaela first established herself on children's television during the 1980s, presenting popular programmes like The Wide Awake Club and Wacaday before transitioning to wildlife presenting.
She fronted The Really Wild Show from 1993 to 2006 and has since contributed to Countryfile and Springwatch. Her professional partnership with Chris Packham has endured for four decades, with the pair returning to screens this week in Winterwatch.
Working Partnership Dynamics
Reflecting on why her collaboration with Chris Packham works so effectively, Michaela noted: 'I think it's because we have a lot of common interests and we have a lot of things where we're poles apart.'
She highlighted how Chris's autism influences their approach to online criticism: 'That's where his autism comes in because people that are autistic don't care. It's like: Bring it on. Whereas I'm not like that.'
With characteristic humour, she added: 'As someone once called me, I'm the soft underbelly of wildlife telly. I didn't mind it, other people seem to think it's insulting but I quite liked it.'
Winterwatch returns to BBC Two and iPlayer from Tuesday 20 January through Friday 23 January at 7pm, broadcasting across four consecutive nights.
