I'm 27 with three young children... I have grown up

CLARKSON'S Farm star Kaleb Cooper is laughing at the notion that he might get some paternity leave to bond with his newborn son, what with harvesting, filming the fifth series of the hit Amazon Prime TV show and promoting his debut children's book.

- BY HANNAH STEPHENSON

Suffering a bad head cold and getting less sleep than normal thanks to the arrival of his third child, Ashton, in August, the 27-year-old ruddy-cheeked farming contractor and tractor driver, who became the breakout star of Clarkson's Farm when the series began in 2021, looks understandably tired, although he says his fiancée Taya is doing the night feeds, so he is getting some kip.

Kaleb was harvesting a field when she went into labour.

"Because it was baby number three, Taya was so relaxed, and she rings me about one o'clock, telling me, 'Kaleb, I'm in labour, I'll let you know when I'm close.'

"I said, 'Well, I've just got this one field,' and Taya understands this. We've been together 10 years.

"I think, to go forward in life to get where you want to be, you don't need someone nagging at you and saying, 'Don't do that, don't do this.

"They've got to be supportive all the time."

Taya understands the job, he says frankly. "She's been out there on the combine [harvester] with me when we've had to finish the field, because of the weather or whatever."

Kaleb got back in time to witness the birth - as he did with his two other children, Oscar, four and two-year-old Willa. "I get into proper calving mode and I'm treating Taya like a cow, then she's giving me the side eye and I have to manage that," he observes wryly.

The Chipping Norton celebrity finally went abroad for the first time this year to Bruges in Belgium but is still reluctant to stray far from his home town in the Cotswolds.

He's keen to promote farming as a career for young people and launched a bursary two years ago at the Royal Agricultural University, contributing £3,000 to successful applicants from non-farming backgrounds who want to pursue a career in agriculture. He also gives talks in schools.