Dan Walker apologises to Helen Skelton after calling her a 'big witch' during Yorkshire filming
ok.co.ukBBC Morning Live's Helen Skelton and Channel 5's Dan Walker have been firm friends for over a decade, but Dan recently found himself apologising to his co-host during the filming of their new series Yorkshire Great and Small, after he jokingly referred to her as a "big witch." Dan chuckled, "The context for that is crucial.
We were at Bolton Castle, which housed Mary, Queen of Scots for six months, and Helen was saying, ‘Imagine this is my castle, how would you storm my castle?’ So I tried to pretend to be an enthusiastic soldier and I adopted a position as if I held a spear, and I said, ‘Let me into your castle, you big witch!’ I apologised immediately.” Helen added, "And I did then pour some fictitious burning tar on his head.This is why we got this job – we are grown adults pretending to storm a castle ruin, playing and pretending to be Mary, Queen of Scots.” Back in 2023, the duo put their friendship to the test while filming the action-packed travel series Dan & Helen's Pennine Adventure.
Dan confronted his fear of heights in the series by abseiling into a dark cave known as Alum Pot ("to give you an idea of how scary it was, even Helen was worried and she doesn't worry about anything," he commented at the time) but for their second travel show together, filmed in Yorkshire this summer, they opted for slightly less adrenaline-fuelled experiences.
The new six-part series, which explores England's largest county, Yorkshire, is more focused on people and places, with six beautiful walks showcasing glorious landscapes. "We've matured a lot in a year, there's no abseiling this time, but there is more baking with lard," Helen says.
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