Kelvin Fletcher opened up about his bold switch from the Emmerdale spotlight to a life of farming.
The 41-year-old actor, known for his two-decade stint as Andy Sugden on the soap from 1996 to 2016, reflected on his love for performing that kick-started his career on screen.
Speaking to Richard and Izzy Hammond on the Who We Are Now podcast, he said: “I think for me, performing and what it represents is amazing. And I discovered that, kind of by accident, and just fell in love with it, fell in love with the idea of being someone else, improving and all that. And it was the only thing I seemed to be really quite good at.”
The leap from on-screen drama to rustic charm wasn’t taken lightly. Revealing this significant career pivot, Kelvin said: “When I made the decision to leave Emmerdale, leave a job after 20 years, that – on paper – was such a brave, maybe foolish thing to do.
“My dad was like, ‘What are you doing, Kelvin?'” Yet, it seems the gamble has paid off, with Kelvin fostering a thriving new lifestyle along with his loved ones on their Macclesfield farm. Spanning 120-acres, this slice of paradise isn’t just their home, but also became the backdrop for their ITV series, Fletcher’s Family Farm.
Since Emmerdale, his story continues to captivate the nation through glimpses of his family-centred agricultural journey. Kelvin Fletcher has swapped the limelight for a life of farming, now caring for an impressive array of livestock including 100 sheep, 30 pigs, 10 horses, and six chickens.
Discussing the significant change, Kelvin said: “We so often wait for something to come, and you’ve just got to – in our experience – get out there and seek it.” When Richard asked if any risks were taken, he admitted: “Oh, huge! As a couple, oh my. As a family, yes.”
The conversation turned to past ambitions of moving to California, with Kelvin revealing: “That was, having just left Emmerdale, two or three years, I think I’d just done Strictly, and then the plan, even before Strictly, was going to America.” Instead, they embraced rural British life.
He shared that at that time in their life, they only had one child. His wife Liz joked that “we couldn’t afford them all on the visa anyway, so they’ve done us a favour”.
After his departure from the soap, we saw Kelvin return to our screens for Strictly Come Dancing in 2019. It was announced that he’d be a replacement for reality TV star Jamie Laing and soon enough went on to win the entire show alongside his dance partner, Oti Mabuse.
Now, their hit TV show has provided them with the opportunity to fulfil their dream of a different kind of existence , one centred around family and farming.
