Former Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher and his wife Liz Marsland appeared on ITV's Lorraine show yesterday and shared a heartbreaking update from their family farm.
The couple, who run the 120-acre farm in the Peak District, revealed the sad loss of a newborn lamb during lambing season.
Speaking via video link to host Lorraine Kelly, they discussed the joys and sorrows of farm life, particularly during this challenging time of year.
During their appearance, the stars wife began: “'We don't start officially start lambing until next week.
“But we've had four little new arrivals that have come early and they're very welcome."
Fletcher shared the difficult news about one of their sheep and said: “Sadly the mum there, she did have a prolapse and she was actually in lamb with triplets and we sadly lost the first one.”
The couple revealed their lambing season had started early
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The couple described it as a "traumatic experience" for the mother sheep and revealed they had unexpectedly started the lambing season early after a young male sheep got through the fence to the females "a little early".
Despite the loss, the couple were able to save the other two lambs from the triplets, with the star adding: “We've managed to obviously save these two.
"They were looking very small when they were first born, they're probably about four or five days old now.
“We've also been bottle feeding them to help mum out and to make sure she's okay after a kind of traumatic experience."
He revealed that they sadly lost one of their lambs during the birth
ITV
The couple share their three children Marnie, seven, Milo, four, and 23-month-old twins Maximus and Mateusz and moved to the countryside after years of city living.
Their rural life features on their own show, Fletcher's Family Farm, and often includes their flock of rare-breed Cotswold sheep as well as chickens, alpacas, rabbits and pigs.
Fletcher admitted that he only set foot on a farm once he started work in Emmerdale, where he played Andy Sugden for 20 years.
During the interview, Kelly reminded him of his previous career aspirations, noting: "You were going to go to Los Angeles.
“There were a lot of doors opening there, lots of auditions lined up and then, of course, Covid hit."
Laughing at his former aspirations, Fletcher added: "Hollywood to Cheshire, I didn't quite plan for that, it's funny how things turn out."
He previously told Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine: "I'm a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. I'm a farmer, actor, father, househusband... Liz is the same. We're both fulfilling a lot of roles.
"It is chaotic, sometimes overwhelming. But it's brilliant. We're happy, fulfilled, excited."
