Julia Bradbury: "From the moment I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought: I am going to get through this because I have to see my children as adults.""
For Julia Bradbury, travelling to Antarctica was far more than another television project. She reveals that her new three-part ITV documentary series, Wonders of the Frozen South, which follows her journey sailing through seas scattered with icebergs and coming face-to-face with one of the most remote places on Earth has helped her reclaim a sense of self after traumatic illness.
“Camping at Paradise Harbour, surrounded by icebergs and a blazing polar sunset, I was overwhelmed and in tears,” she admits. The landscape’s vast beauty and silence became a symbol of her resilience five years after recovering from cancer and a mastectomy. “Standing at the bottom of the world felt like I got my strength and courage back. And reminded me how deeply we can still feel connected to the natural world. I had expected it to be a great adventure but I hadn’t thought about how it would actually feel to be somewhere so extreme and so beautiful.”
The popular TV presenter and author who went to school in Sheffield, feels that she is now ready to put her illness behind her. “For me, the series is right up there as one of my best programmes. To bring this to audiences at this stage in my life, it’s moved me forward in my emotional health. The expedition was a big undertaking and a big tick on my wish list. I’d always wanted to go to Antarctica. Who doesn’t want to go to the Poles?
“You can see my excitement on screen but also, my great respect for where I am. People might say I’m 55 and it’s all downhill from now on, but I feel invigorated, privileged and blessed to be here, and I want to make the most of my second act. What an incredible project to kick start Act Two,” she smiles.
A familiar face on our screens since the 1990s, Bradbury is probably best known as a presenter of the BBC’s Countryfile, though in recent years her travel shows have taken her further afield to Greece and Australia After visiting Antarctica to research planetary health for her best-selling book Hack Yourself Healthy last February, she approached ITV about making a documentary series exploring the continent.
“It is one of the most precious places on the planet – and also one of the most vulnerable,” she says.
“For years now, I’ve been saying that human health and the health of our planet are intertwined. To my delight, ITV agreed, and so with a production company, sponsored by HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions), it was all systems go. But we had to wait for summer to arrive to film there. Even in November, when temperatures hover around freezing, the wind chill can make it feel like -20°C.”
However, it was a big step as the 23-day expedition meant being away from home for a month. She had never been apart from her three children for so long. “It was really hard and I was grateful for the satellite link-up that let me speak to the kids almost every day from the ship. It’s so far away, you are going towards the edge of the earth, and it’s a long time on a boat.”
But when she stepped onboard with a small production team in one of the world’s southernmost cities, Punta Arenas in Chile, she admits that she felt excitement kick in. “You know you’re a long way from home when the Falkland Islands are your first stop.”
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, Bradbury has been determined to avoid a recurrence.
For Hack Yourself Health, which will be published in paperback in September, she embarked on a rigorous journey to uncover the ultimate health and wellness hacks and travelled across the world for the book to examine different cultural approaches to health, from India to Antarctica, from Cornwall to Yorkshire and spoke to world-renowned experts. In Yorkshire, she visited Broughton Hall, a 3,000-acre estate near Skipton. “It has been rebranded from a traditional estate into a "sanctuary" focusing on nature recovery and well being. It’s an incredible, and Roger Tempest, who is the custodian with his partner Paris, is really passionate about re-wilding and getting back to nature, replanting trees, eliminating pesticides and letting areas grow. This all has important health implications which I wanted to write about. They have wood-fired saunas and epic walks, it’s very inspirational.I hope to go back with my family this year as I love Yorkshire."
The main reason behind her superhuman efforts to stay healthy is to be around for her three children. She shares her son Zephyr, 14, and her twin girls Zena and Xanthe, 10, with her Irish property developer partner Gerard Cunningham. “They are my motivation and from the moment I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought: I am going to get through this because I have to see my children as adults. I have to be there for that. And I will be.”
The diagnosis led her to adopt a much healthier diet and go teetotal. “I had some bubbles on my birthday but now it’s olive shots and not vodka shots,” she smiles.
I point out that she has employed very healthy strategies to cope with her traumatic diagnosis. She has admitted that guiding her children through her diagnosis and surgery was one of the toughest moments of the past few years.
“I want them to be happy children, so I am really open with them about their emotional health, and we share a lot. Family life is brilliant, it's great, it's stressful, it’s hectic. But I love it.”
Bradbury has been with Gerard, or Gerry as she calls him, for 16 years. “It's a long old time. And we’re not married despite what Wikipedia says. We have a great relationship but the crux of it all, right now - I don't care what anybody says - it's all about the children. Everything is so about them and their lives, because these are such fundamental years for them.”
Green space and nature is her happy place. Would she consider moving to the country (she lives in North London)?
“It is a possibility. But it's not imminent, because we had a flood last year, so the house has to be fixed before we can sell it and go anywhere. But my children are outside every day. We're very fortunate. We've got a communal garden, and it's part of the negotiation when it comes to screen time. It's like, Okay, you want screen time? Get outside in the garden. You give me 20 minutes, I'll give you 20 minutes.
“I walk every day for my “nature snack”. I take our dog Zeus out. I do rebounding and I have added resistance training. I even did loops of the ship’s deck in Antarctica to get my steps in.”
Bradbury is grateful that her natural glass half full positivity has helped her navigate challenging times.
“We are our thoughts. And I will not let thoughts of getting ill again enter into my head,” she insists. “I’m aiming for 90 year old super yogi granny. On the floor playing with my grandchildren, I want to be really present in those last years of my life.
“I can’t get back to juggling 53 projects all in one go as I used to, and never having any time. Ultimately I need to get the balance right. I’m very mindful I need to do my yoga, meditation and breath work every day. These are things that are keeping me on planet earth and I can’t forget that.”
Julia Bradbury’s Wonders of the Frozen South is screening in February on ITV1 and also available on ITVX.