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Matt Baker's 'nightmare' dyslexia battle that almost cost him his career
Series three of Our Farm In The Dales starts tonight, and while star of the show Matt Baker appears effortless on TV, he hasn't always found his job easy.
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Matt, 44, who has hosted The One Show and Countryfile, battled with dyslexia for many years, meaning he struggled to read autocues and scripts throughout his career. He was diagnosed in childhood and has never been able to read out loud, which causes issues on live TV, when presenters rely on autocues for their lines.
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"Reading was always an issue and even now, reading aloud is a nightmare. No matter how hard I try, I can't read aloud," Matt told The Yorkshire Post.
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"The scariest thing someone can do to me is hand me an email on live television and ask me to read it out. It does something to me. It's absolutely petrifying. Whatever I read, I learn. I block it all out in ways which means I can recognise sentences," Matt said, explaining how he navigates presenting.
"Script meetings were horrible for me," Matt went on. "Where somebody wants to sit down and read a script – that was awful. I'd get in and read ahead of time and make suggestions from that."
Matt Baker struggles with reading autocues
He explained that he found a font for autocues that made it easier for him to recognise the words and read, plus he picks out key words from the script and goes off-piste around them, which he feels makes him a better listener and presenter.
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"My dyslexia has inadvertently gifted me with an interview style people seem to find relaxing," he said.
Matt Baker with his family, who appear on Our Farm In The Dales
The third series of Our Farm in the Dales starts on Wednesday 5 0ctober on More4 at 9 pm.
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