Former Strictly Come Dancing star Richie Anderson has admitted he broke a key rule when he learned he had landed his new role presenting Escape To The Country. The BBC star, who appeared on Strictly in 2022, wasn’t supposed to tell anyone until the news had been made public; however, he confessed he couldn’t help himself and told some of his Radio 2 colleagues. Not only that, but Zoe Ball, with whom he previously worked on her breakfast show, has been helping him select his outfits for the rural property search programme.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk shortly before recording his second episode, he confessed: “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone before the announcement was made, although I told a few people at Radio 2. Trevor Nelson messaged me. He is the coolest man in show business and is a secret Escape To The Country super fan. And before every episode, I send Zoe Ball my potential outfit choices, and she’ll get back saying that it will or won’t look great in the countryside.

“Sara Cox sent me the most lovely message when she was on holiday. Nicky Chapman, who’s one of the presenters on Escape To The Country, and I used to work with her at Radio 2, gave you the most amazing talk before my first episode. She said: ‘Go out there. Richard. Be yourself. You’ll be incredible on this. Just trust your instincts, and you know you’ll work out your own way of doing it when you’re going around the houses. So everyone’s been so supportive. Radio 2 has been amazing,” he gushed.

For Richie, this isn’t just another gig but rather the fulfilment of an ambition, as he has wanted to work on the show for years after it inspired him to find his own place in the country where he currently lives.

“The programme sort of helped me without even knowing it. I used to be on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, with Zoe Ball and each morning I’d get home, I’d have my nap, and wake up just in time for Escape to the Country. That was my thing for six years when I was on the show. It gave me a bit of normality every day when I was so tired.

I always remember an old episode where they were in Northamptonshire, and the presenter described Northampton as like the Cotswolds without the crowds. I wasn’t really feeling London. It didn’t quite work for me. Dean, my other half, was back in Birmingham, and we always said that we either wanted to live in Tenerife or in the countryside. So I was like, we need to make the move. Let’s go to the countryside,” he said.

“We didn’t know where to start, and I remember telling Dean about the Northampton episode. And it’s easy to get into London and easy to get into Birmingham from there. So we kind of did escape to the country ourselves, without the cameras or without the presenters – spent a weekend here, looked around, and then we got our house.

“The programme helped me to move here and now I’m helping people move to the countryside,” he laughed.

However, he admitted the job wasn’t just handed to him and he had to “prove himself” to the powers that be. “It is the programme I’ve always wanted to do and I spoke to the BBC and they rightfully said: ‘Look, this is the crown and the jewel of the daytime schedule, if you’re going to be on it, you’ve got to know your onions’.

“So I had to really prove my credentials, and, thankfully, they’ve taken a chance on me, and it genuinely is everything I wanted it to be. I absolutely love it. I feel so lucky to be here. It’s nice, and it’s full circle. The programme helped me, and now I’m helping people move to the countryside,” he smiles