Janet Ellis: ‘I thought my travels were over when my husband died'

Times

2 days ago

Janet Ellis, 69, is a TV presenter, actress and writer best known for presenting Blue Peter and starring in Doctor Who alongside Tom Baker'. She lived in Chatham, Kent, until she was four before moving to Germany when her soldier father was posted there. She has three children: the singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 46, from her first marriage to the director and producer Robin Bextor, and Jackson, 37, and Martha, 34, from her marriage to the TV producer John Leach, who died of cancer in 2020. Ellis lives in west London with her grandson Sonny, 21, the son of Ellis-Bextor and her musician husband, Richard Jones.
I went to some incredible places with Blue Peter in my twenties and, having spent much of my childhood in Germany, it was great to explore the British Isles. I remember filming at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, where the last descendant of the family who had lived there for decades was moving out and the National Trust was taking over. He lived in a tiny kitchen-bedsit set-up and the rest of the house looked frozen in time: board games mid-play, stuffed animals, pressed butterflies — it was extraordinary.
My first long-haul trip was to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo in 1984. I was so excited that I didn't sleep on the flight, then I had just 90 minutes after landing before interviewing the prime minister. I fell asleep on arrival in my room and woke up feeling like my head was filled with Polyfilla.
John and I adored Japan and went there four times. Every time we'd start in Tokyo then visit different places. On our last trip there, in 2017, we walked the Kiso Valley, between Kyoto and Tokyo. It was breathtaking, but not the flat — like much of the terrain — and disused railway track I'd imagined. We stayed in a ryokan — traditional inns where dinner is served at 6pm and there's nothing to do afterwards. It's hard to eat badly in Japan, though sushi and sashimi are more of a dinner thing; lunch is mostly noodle-based. In Kyoto we stayed at the Screen, a sweet little hotel. It's a university city so everyone rides bikes and the skyline isn't as intense as that of Tokyo. We went to our first onsen — the single-sex, communal, naked bathing in hot springs — on an island off Hiroshima.
I had to return John's passport after he died and it was so hard; all those memories of the trips we'd taken together. Sophie actually came with us on our honeymoon, to Bali in 1988. We left Jack as he was coming up to a year and John's mum looked after him, but I don't think it occurred to us not to bring Sophie, so thank you, John. We had a lovely time.
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John and I spent lots of time in Italy too. Sophie has a house in Puglia, where we've holidayed the last four Augusts. I fell for Sicily after Martha, my daughter, returned from a trip there as part of her history of art degree. There was a lot she hadn't seen and she wanted us to take her back, which we did twice. I particularly love the southern towns — further on from Noto and Ragusa — that survived the 1693 earthquake. They were built in baroque style, so they're very beautiful, with a gorgeous coastline and fantastic food.
After John's cancer diagnosis — but absolutely not because of it — we bought a tiny house in Modica, in southeast Sicily. After he died in 2020 the kids were really keen for me to go back there and took me. I felt the sensation that he knew I'd return without him. The house holds so many memories, which is lovely, but I'm not aiming to spend time alone there; I like having someone to play with.
My favourite pastime abroad is visiting hardware stores, supermarkets and chemists. I can easily spend days doing very little apart from going for a stroll to buy a brilliant little kitchen knife for pennies.
After John's death I believed that my long-haul travelling days were over, unless the kids invited me somewhere. It's fairly easy to find friends for a weekend trip, but it's difficult aligning diaries for longer breaks when you don't have a partner. So when I was invited to join a Just You group tour to South Africa last year I was apprehensive. It was my first solo trip, but everyone was in a similar position — widowed, divorced or single — and hearing that everyone was nervous was incredibly bonding. My instinct when I arrive anywhere is to message John and show him where I am — I don't suppose that will ever stop.
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The trip was a good spread, through the country from Cape Town to Johannesburg, like a geography textbook brought to life. I was fascinated to learn about the 17th-century Dutch settlers, who brought everything they owned on their backs, seeking fertile land. We went on safari at Featherbed Nature Reserve and Kruger [National Park], spotting the big five and, even better, the little five, all hoping not to get eaten. Janet Ellis is an ambassador for Just You (justyou.co.uk)
In our weekly My Hols interview, famous faces — from the worlds of film, sport, politics, and more — share their travel stories from childhood to the present day. Read more My Hols interviews here