Kelvin Fletcher and his wife Liz Marsland were planning to move to America before the Covid-19 pandemic hit,
the former Emmerdale star has revealed
Actor, farmer and occasional racing driver Kelvin Fletcher, best known as the 2019 Strictly Come Dancing champion, could have had a more high-profile career in Hollywood if not for a twist of fate.
Former Emmerdale star Kelvin and his wife, Liz Marsland—also an actor—had plans to relocate to California until the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to their plans.
“We were actually planning on moving to America,” Kelvin revealed on the Country Life podcast. “That was our next chapter.”
As actors, Kelvin says he and Liz were eager to pursue the “Hollywood dream.”
However, their dream took a different turn: “Unfortunately, the pandemic came, and I think we were unable to do that, but I think subconsciously, we still were ready and set on something different.”
That “something different” turned out to be relocating to the Peak District and buying a farm. Despite his long stint as Andy Hopwood on Emmerdale, Kelvin admitted he didn’t know much about farming: “The irony is I played a farmer for 20 years in a fictional TV show, but ultimately we were what the industry would consider a new entrant.
“We thought, ‘What if? Is that a life we could do?’.”
He explains that, as “townies,” he and Liz didn’t initially plan on running the farm commercially, but simply liked the idea of living in the countryside: “We were quite keen walkers before then, as I’m sure everybody became through Covid.”
But their most significant and precarious decision was permitting television cameras into their residence to document their dramatic change of lifestyle.
“I think they always say in show business, don’t work with children, don’t work with animals,” Kelvin joked. “Probably add a third rule to that… don’t work with your partner!”
He acknowledged that the concept carried considerable risks: “I think to invite a camera crew into our home—it’s a very sacred place.”
He reveals that his earlier television work involved portraying characters, whilst his personal identity remained “kept safe.”
“I’m confident in that arena, whereas suddenly to be myself in that set of circumstances… we’re still on a journey of discovery. We’re three years into becoming farmers, if you like, so it feels naïve at times.”
Noting that the whole venture can prove “daunting” at times, Kelvin elaborates: “That can be quite exposing, and maybe you feel a real sense of vulnerability. You’re doing that with your family.”
He reflects that his years in the Peak District have transformed his perspective on numerous matters: “It’s affected our lives in a sense of our food choices, our understanding of nature, of the world, of the family dynamic, of life—what’s important, the ability that we all do try and be present.
“There are so many things that have changed as a direct result of moving to the countryside. And that’s been a bit of a revelation, really.”
