'NATURE humbles you'

Julia Bradbury shares her latest Antarctic adventure and how, five years after battling cancer, she is stronger than ever

- GEMMA CALVERT

It’s absolutely insane,’ says Julia Bradbury. ‘I was up this morning at 7am, out the door at 7.45am, I had a publishing meeting, did some work on my next book, had lunch with a journalist, came home, spent some time with the kids and now I’m [talking] to you. Literally every hour of the day is accounted for.’

And yet, somehow, in the middle of this life whirlwind, the TV presenter found time to sail to the end of the Earth.

During her three-decade-long career in TV, as well as presenting programmes such as Countryfile and Watchdog, Julia, 55, has travelled the globe, visiting everywhere from Australia and Japan to Iceland, Norway and — of course — (mostly walking) the UK.

And at the end of last year she embarked on a 24-day expedition to Antarctica. Following an 18-day voyage to Antarctica last February in her role as patron of Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the latest trip was her longest away since being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021.

‘This was a tough journey to leave my family for so long and a really big decision to make this series,’ she explains. ‘I don’t want to live under a cloud of fear. I had to prove to myself that I could still do this, that there was a strength within me and that I was brave enough.’

Julia battled constant subzero temperatures, 240km/h winds and a heart-stopping moment when she came within feet of a crumbling iceberg.