Why Jimmy Doherty is partly responsible for pal Jamie Oliver's happy marriage to Jools

Jimmy Doherty, a familiar face on our television screens for over two decades, first gained fame through his appearances on his close friend Jamie Oliver's cooking programmes.

Having trained as a pig farmer, he proceeded to manage his own farm and established the Essex Pig Company, which became the focus of the reality TV documentary, Jimmy's Farm.

Currently, Jimmy balances his television career with his farming lifestyle. This weekend marks the comeback of the Saturday morning ITV programme, Jimmy and Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast, which debuted last year.

The show is hosted by Jimmy and chef Shivi Ramoutar, blending cooking segments with lifestyle features and celebrity guests, all from his 70-acre family farm. He shares this space with his television producer wife Michaela Furney, their four daughters, and a variety of pets, including polar bears!

Let's delve into the life of 49-year-old Jimmy on the farm, which is open to the public, reports .

Born in Ilford before relocating to Essex at three years old, Jimmy formed a strong friendship with a young Jamie Oliver during their primary school years.

He has always had a passion for animals and wildlife. From the age of 13, he worked at Mole Hall Wildlife Park's tropical butterfly house in Saffron Walden, helping care for a diverse range of animals from otters to chimpanzees.

Jimmy pursued animal biology at university and served in the Royal Corps of Signals for five years. He later trained as a pig farmer and now owns his own farm and operates The Essex Pig Company.

Jimmy Doherty's wife, the TV producer Michaela Furney, has opened up about her life alongside the farmer and presenter, famous for his show Jimmy's Farm. Michaela was working as a runner on Jamie Oliver's cookery series Jamie's Kitchen, where she first met Jimmy in 2002.

After choosing to leave her bustling London life to join Jimmy on his Cumbrian farm, she recalled to MailOnline: "One of the biggest things was giving up my career; I was very focused and it was a good lifestyle. But it was my decision: Jim didn't put any pressure on me."

Although initially reluctant to embrace life in front of the lens, Michaela eventually found herself appearing on the documentary series 'Jimmy's Farm'. She confessed how she had reservations about the exposure, stating, "We're just normal people and the attention can be scary and hurtful."

Despite not planning to take part in the filming, Jimmy managed to convince her, as she noted, "I was still commuting when they began filming, so at first I thought I wouldn't be involved - that was how Jim persuaded me."

As she reflected on the challenges they faced, she expressed, "They used lots of shots of me crying, but it was just in frustration at all the setbacks, the worst of which were the fights with the council over planning permission [for outbuildings and, retrospectively, the shop]. I don't cry that often - they just seemed to catch it on camera every time I did."

Jimmy and Michaela tied the knot in August 2009, hosting the wedding celebration on their very own farm. They now have four daughters.

Since Jimmy and Jamie first met at primary school, they have maintained a lifelong friendship. Together, they have hosted several TV shows, such as Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast, and have collaborated on other projects, seemingly avoiding major disputes, aside from playful arguments during TV challenges.

It was Jimmy who introduced Jamie to his future wife, Jools, when Jamie was 18 years old. In an interview with MailOnline, Jimmy shared: "We went on a double date to the cinema in Cambridge - me, Jamie, Juliette and Sue Stump. He had a Fiesta with big fog lights and an exhaust like a tractor on it. We were going over a hill listening to Bob Marley, Buffalo Soldier. We're all singing, the guy braked in front of us and Jamie smashed into him and knocked his front lights out."

Their close bond was evident when Jamie dedicated his book, Jamie Cooks Italy, to Jimmy's late father. Jimmy reminisced: "There's a picture of him at my brother's wedding on there. Jamie gave me the book and I'm used to my dad being dead, but sorrow is a weird thing. I couldn't control it, I had to go away on my own. Then I came back and said thank you and it started again. But luckily I had an eye infection so I could blame it on that. Pink eyes, weeping."

Jimmy's Suffolk farm, featured in Jimmy and Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast, is home to a variety of unique animals, including polar bears and monkeys - and the website states it's Europe's largest polar bear reserve.

In a candid chat with the Express, he revealed: "And then you've got the wildlife park where we've got polar bears, we've got monkeys, we've got our anteaters. So we do different activities with them.

"One morning we played hide and seek with our monkeys. We hid all their food around and they had to go and find it. And I remember that for the camera system, it took him about 15 minutes trying to get the GoPro in this special box and tighten it all up. It took the monkey about five seconds to undo or and grab the camera, bite it and run off with it. But we've got some brilliant monkey selfies!"

Jimmy and Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast returns to ITV1 on Saturday, April 19 at 8.25am