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David Attenborough Reveals His Biggest Regret To Louis Theroux

David Attenborough Reveals His Biggest Regret To Louis Theroux

This is heartbreaking.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Sir David Attenborough has been with the BBC for 65 years and counting. He has been praised for showing the world the beautiful, and the not-so beautiful, parts of nature. He's also the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in black and white, colour, HD and 3D.

The 91-year-old has been the narrator for the amazing Life, Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and Blue Planet series among many others. But each of those projects took an extraordinary amount of time and devotion. And while he explains that he's been unbelievably lucky in life, he does have his regrets.

Speaking to another legendary documentary maker, Louis Theroux, in Radio Times, Attenborough looks at how his career has impacted his family life.

He says: "If you have a child of six or eight and you miss three months of his or her life, it's irreplaceable. You miss something."

"Perhaps you can't have your cake and eat it."

David Attenborough at Komodo enclosure
David Attenborough at Komodo enclosure

Credit: PA

His wife, Jane, sadly died in 1997 but he has a daughter, Susan and a son, Robert. Susan is a former primary school headmistress, while Robert is a senior lecturer in bioanthropology in Australia.

After turning 91 last month, he touched on the idea of morality, saying: "It's more and more likely that I'm going to die tomorrow."

It was rumoured that Planet Earth bosses were lining up a third instalment - which was music to the ears of many. But it took the last two seasons a decade each to research, film and edit, meaning Sir David might be 101 when the next one is ready.

A producer of the show told the Express : "Who knows, we hope David will be with us. You never know. If he's here, he'll be doing it. That's for sure. He is the voice of natural history. He's the voice of Planet Earth II, and if he's still willing to do it, then he'll do Planet Earth III.

Sand sculpture of David Attenborough
Sand sculpture of David Attenborough

The legendary man as a sand sculpture. Credit: PA

"I think it's fair to say without him it definitely wouldn't be the same, no. All of us owe so much to Sir David for making the series what it is. There's no way else to tell the stories than he does. The bosses will kill me for saying Planet Earth III is happening, by the way. Maybe it's good because then it will be commissioned."

Sir David has previously mentioned how his age is starting to take its toll on his work. In an interview with the Telegraph he admitted that he sometimes struggles to remember 'proper names', which can make script writing hard.

He added that he's 'coming to terms' with the fact his memory isn't what it once was and that it now takes longer for him to find the right words.

Regardless - he's given the UK and the world priceless information and has been a source of inspiration for many. While he might not have spent as much time with his family as he'd liked - he definitely has a global family of fans.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Planet Earth, david attenborough