EXCLUSIVE: Countryfile and Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher got emotional as he opened up about losing his mum to bowel cancer eight years ago and running the London Marathon in her memory
Sean Fletcher, known for his roles on Countryfile and Good Morning Britain, has candidly discussed the loss of his mother to cancer and his ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the devastating disease. Besides being a TV presenter and father, Sean is also an avid outdoorsman and runner.
The Countryfile host has recently partnered with GO Outdoors and is now the face of their AW collection. Discussing the new range and the positive impact of outdoor activities on his mental health, Sean said, “So I suppose quite a few of the programmes I do are outdoors, so that’s the first thing, and so, it is either you’re doing some activity outdoors, or meeting people who work and live outdoors.”
He added, “So, it’s a real dream job, because you’re meeting people who are doing something on the land. They do something outside. It might be a farmer, it might be some activities, a person who jumps off cliffs, or something like that, and they’re really passionate about something they do outdoors.”
Sean continued, “I came to this conclusion a long time ago, but it’s just so nourishing. It’s really great for your mental well-being, and personally, I feel that going out recharges my batteries. Whether you’re in a London park or in a place like that, in the middle of nowhere, and you’re being battered by the weather. I just feel really nourished, and I feel better, and I always feel better about being outdoors.
“So, yeah, working with GO Outdoors really makes sense, and then we talk about the growing mental health crisis, and obviously, there are serious mental health issues, but there are people who are struggling on a lower level and going out to these things that are all of ours. It’s all of our countryside,” reports the Express.
The BBC presenter continued, “I just feel really passionate about whether you’re the pensioner who lives in a nice village in the Cotswolds, or you’re a kid from a disadvantaged background in Manchester, it’s all of ours, and it should be accessible to all of us. And part of that is clothing, making it accessible so you can participate in those things.
“They all sort of tie in and kind of by accident, you know, I’ve got into doing some of these things in my work, and I realised that the outdoors was good for me, and then I thought, ‘Oh, actually, it’s good for everyone’, and then I’m working with GO Outdoors because clothing is an important part of that.”
Sean discussed some of his go-to pieces from the range, highlighting a Peter Storm 3-in-1 jacket, whilst emphasising that “layers are important”.
The journalist, who is also an avid runner, spoke candidly about losing his mother to cancer and completing the London Marathon in her honour. The GO Outdoors ambassador revealed he was approached by a GMB producer to participate in the London Marathon for the programme, and despite initial hesitation, Sean described it as the best thing he had ever done.
He revealed: “So my mum had died of bowel cancer eight years before, and so I was an ambassador for Bowel Cancer UK, and it’s emotional, it’s hard, it’s really hard. But I remember I was crying, and what’s so good about the London Marathon is that there are just so many people supporting you.
“Everybody you look at, they’re running for someone who’s died, or someone’s struggling, or a charity that they’re raising money for. It’s just such a feel-good event, and it was amazing, so I ran around four in a row.”
Reflecting on the moment she died, Sean said, “It was all quite quick. It was eight years before, but she kind of kept it from me, and didn’t tell me that she had bowel cancer. And I lived in Wales, and she lived in East Essex, so quite a long way to get to. It took five hours, so I’d have to arrange trips to come and see her.
“She masked it quite well and made sure she was in the hospital, and then I remember visiting her once when she was ill, and she was in the hospital. I went to the ward, and I remember just looking around, thinking, like, ‘gosh, everybody looks very ill’.
“You know, it looked like everybody was very close to death, and so I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I mean, I’m a journalist. I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got to ask some questions. ‘ So I asked the doctor, and they said, ‘Well, you need to ask your mum, she needs to be the one to tell you’.
“So anyway, I thought, oh, there’s something wrong here. So I quizzed them all, and managed to find out, and three and a half weeks later, she was dead.”
Sean started to become emotional as he recalled, “It was just horrific, and for two of those weeks, I mean, it actually gets me now, those weeks she didn’t talk, so I literally had a week and a half with her because she just spiralled really quickly. It was heartbreaking.”
Sean is a proud ambassador for GO Outdoors, the UK’s largest outdoor retailer. You can shop his autumn-winter collection online or in-store now.