Kate Humble has revealed how she was propositioned for sex by a TV director at the age of just 22 – and why she decided to never have children.
The former Countryfile presenter, 56, who was also a mainstay of Springwatch and Animal Park, said she experienced unwanted male advances as she started her career in her early 20s.
Kate said the comment was made while she was working for a director of a Channel 4 series – but declined to name him.
She told The Telegraph: ‘When I was very young, probably 22, I was working for a director on a Channel 4 series. I was sitting with him in the edit suite.
‘At the end of the day, he turned to me and said, “Should we go and have sex?” It was slightly flippant.’
Kate has refused to treat the comment as ‘trauma’ and instead called him out on it, saying if ‘that’s why you hired me, you better find someone else’.
‘Me being propositioned by some bloke wasn’t sexism. It was just someone trying it on and you tell them to p**s off,’ Kate added.
The TV presenter, who has been married to producer Ludo Graham since 1992, has previously come under fire for insisting she has no plans to start a family.
Countryfile’s Kate Humble (pictured in 2012) has revealed how she was propositioned for sex by a TV director at the age of just 22
Kate, 56, (pictured in 1999) who is also a mainstay for Springwatch and Animal Park, said she experienced unwanted male advances as she started her career in her early 20s
Kate is pictured with her husband Ludo who she has been married to since 1992
In an interview with Woman’s Hour, she spoke about how she had known since the age of 14 that she didn’t want to have kids.
Kate said in 2016: ‘I knew very early on that I didn’t want children, so I thought, I’m just going to say it. I don’t think it’s anybody’s business but I think it’s just easier if I just come out and say, “I don’t want them, I’ve never wanted them”‘.
‘I know it sounds dreadful but that’s just how I feel. But it was amazing, the reaction, [there were] so many women via social media and in the papers saying “thanks for voicing what we feel”, because so many people don’t want kids.’
Kate said it was a relief to tell people at the age of 40 that this was ‘her decision’ and called on people not to judge.
Speaking previously to The Mirror in 2021, Kate explained that the pandemic only reinforced her decision not to have a child.
She said: ‘This sounds very apocalyptic, but we’re living in a world which is hugely unpredictable and if the last year has taught us anything, it’s taught us that.
‘And you really want to think, “Do I want to bring a child into this world?” That is an entirely valid reason. The world’s population is going through the roof.’
Kate Humble visits the Dogs Trust near Bridgend, Wales, in December 2009
Kate (pictured in 2012) said it was a relief to tell people at the age of 40 that this was ‘her decision’ and called on people not to judge.
Addressing the backlash she’s faced in the past, the TV presenter said women should never be viewed negatively if they decide they don’t want to start a family.
She added: ‘If people want to have kids that is totally fine, but no one should feel that somehow they are inadequate or selfish – that’s something I’ve been called a lot – or just weird if they don’t want kids.’
‘To me it is just as sensible a decision to decide not to have them as it is to have them. No one has the right to tell any woman that she should have children.’
Kate has been living on a 117-acre farm in the Wye Valley in Monmouthshire with her husband since 2007.
