Countryfile presenter Ellie Harrison quits after 'drawn out decision'

"After 13 years, my final column is a fond farewell to Countryfile - I'll miss the people, places and stories," she wrote.

"Thirteen-and-a-half years after I arrived four hours early for my first Countryfile shoot, which culminated in me commuting up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to deliver Matt Baker a sandwich of freshly harvested mushrooms, it has come time for me to bid you farewell."

She added that her "bond with the programme" had made it an extremely difficult decision to leave, but that she would take "all the lessons from these days forward with me on my journey".

The column continued: "I've come to realise that I don't need to navigate to a whole new ocean or even a new sea, but to chart a new course somewhere in these waters, raising my three wonderful children, growing our family business and following my own creative calling to produce art of my own making."

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Harrison has presented alongside the likes of Baker, John Craven, Helen Skelton and Anita Rani since she first joined the long-running show in 2009, after making the move from Channel 5.

Her time on Countryfile has coincided with presenting gigs on a number of other BBC shows, including The Great British Winter and Secret Britain, while she has also been a contributor to The One Show.

She has fronted Dinosaur Britain, Britain's Sharks and Britain's Whales on ITV, too, and has appeared on the Discovery Channel programmes Daily Planet and Outrageous Acts of Science.

Countryfile airs on Sunday evenings on BBC One. Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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