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Kelvin Fletcher returns to ITV with exciting new show 7 years after Emmerdale exit
Former Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher is documenting his life running a 120-acre farm in the Peak District with his wife and four kids despite having no experience
Former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher is set to return to ITV seven years after leaving the soap.
The 39-year-old – who also wowed fans with his moves on Strictly Come Dancing which he won in 2019 – has landed his very own reality show.
Kelvin, who played Andy Sugden on Emmerdale for 20 years, revealed the new show is called Fletcher’s Family Farm.
It will follow the adventures of Kelvin, his actress wife Liz and their four children, Marnie, six, Milo, four, and one-year-old twin boys, Maximus and Mateusz.
Sharing the news on Instagram, he told his 486,000 followers: “A brand new ITV1 series this Autumn bringing you inside our lives as we celebrate and explore this wonderful farming life!
“With more animals, more laughs, more mistakes and even more children! This adventure really has only just begun. We can’t wait to share it with you! Let the fun begin!”
The documentary-style programme is set at Kelvin’s 120-acre farm in the Peak District, which he moved into in 2021. Prior to that, the family lived in Manchester.
It is being made by Leeds-based Daisybeck Studios and commissioned for weekday daytime for ITV and ITVBe in the first co-commission between the two channels.
Viewers got a glimpse into Kelvin’s life on the farm when he starred in a six-part series on the BBC last year.
Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure followed Kelvin as he learned how to run a farm, just like his former Emmerdale character Andy.
With the help of a next-door neighbour, Gilly, who has experience in the industry, Kelvin and his family got stuck into all that farm life brings.
But the show was slammed by some, who called it a ‘rip off Clarkson’s Farm’.
One viewer tweeted: “How much does Kelvin Fletcher want to copy Jeremy Clarkson with his new farm.” While another said: “Clarkson’s Farm it ain’t.”
Unlikely farmer Jeremy Clarkson became a lockdown smash hit after documenting his attempts to farm the 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.
Clarkson’s Farm went on to break Amazon Prime viewing records as the most highly watched show on the platform.
Addressing the comparison to Clarkson’s Farm, Kelvin said there is still a huge appetite for this sort of show and they’re all very different in their own ways.
He revealed their original plan was to move to the US, but this was thwarted by the lockdown.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror at the end of last year, Kelvin said : “It may seem like we have a showbizzy life, but every top I’ve got has baby sick on the shoulder.
“That’s just the way it is, as any parent will tell you. There have been so many highlights this year.
“We’re still only in our second year on the farm with a lot to learn, but it’s great.”
Wife Liz, who starred in BBC One drama In The Club, says: “It’s been an amazing reaction. Farmers have welcomed us into the community and want to give us advice.”
Kelvin and Liz knew each other as children and became a couple after Liz finished university. They married in London in 2015 after Kelvin proposed on a beach in Wales.
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