Escape to the Country's Steve Brown's life off-screen from accident to romances

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Escape to the Country
Escape to the Country's Steve Brown's life off-screen (Image: BBC Studios/Pete Dadds)

Steve Brown is one of the many delightful faces fronting Escape to the Country on BBC One.

The TV presenter and public speaker joined the Escape to the Country team in early 2017. The BBC One stars have helped people purchase their dream property in rural areas of the UK. After exploring each house, the presenter asks the buyers to guess the asking price before revealing it.

Steve is also part of the Countryfile family and is a reporter on shows like Sky Sports' Game Changers. The star joined the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad in 2007 and was a member of the talented team which won gold in the IWRF European Championships.

When it comes to his personal life, Steve is a little more private but previously opened up about his family and life.

Family

Escape to the Country's Steve Brown's life off-screen from accident to romances qeituiexiexinvSteve is close with his two brothers and comes from a tight-knit family (BBC/Boundless)

The TV presenter once revealed he is super close with his two brothers and that he and his siblings came from a tight-knit family. Speaking to Daily Express, he said: "Me and my brothers are very close. I know that everyone has different family setups. I'm very happy and lucky with what I've got. I don't take it for granted - my family are all very close.

Jonnie Irwin's wife tells him she loves him every day through sweet gestureJonnie Irwin's wife tells him she loves him every day through sweet gesture

"It won't be the first time they've helped me out. We go as a family to the beach or wherever. They'll grab my chair and pull me across the stones and that sort of thing. And what is great is because we are close and they help me quite a lot, they know where my limitations are."

Relationships

In 2017, it was revealed that Steve found love with Alton Towers crash victim Vicky Balch. The duo met and fell for each other while filming the BBC1 documentary, Without Limits. They got to know each other when they and other disabled adventurers drove 900 miles across Vietnam.

At the time, friends claimed the two were "positive about the future." The source said: "They are happy and have been inseparable since Vietnam." However, the relationship didn't last and the two announced their split later that year.

Accident and Recovery

Escape to the Country's Steve Brown's life off-screen from accident to romancesHe previously dated rollercoaster crash victim Vicky Balch (Sunday Mirror)
Escape to the Country's Steve Brown's life off-screen from accident to romancesSteve previously opened up about his accident (BBC/Jamie Simonds/Matt Burlem)

Steve has discussed how he ended up as a wheelchair user. When he was only 23, the presenter tripped and fell from a first-floor balcony while working in Europe as an area manager for a holiday company. He said he was 'looking up' when he landed on the group.

"So when my body stopped my head went back over my shoulders, like a severe whiplash," he explained to the Telegraph. "It snapped my neck, dislocating the C7 [one of the cervical vertebra, below the skull] and trapping my spinal cord." In a different interview, Steve recalled the 'environment around him being all still.'

The former rugby player said in a chat with Disability Horizon: "I was looking up and there wasn't any noise or movement. The trees were still. It was almost as if me lying there was reflecting the environment I was in. Everything was so still and quiet, including my body."

After the doctors saved his life, he was told about what happened to him. He shared: "Because my injury was C6-C7 incomplete, they didn't know how much better it might get and the last thing they were going to do was turn around and say, right, you are going to be in a wheelchair forever.

It took the star a long while before he accepted that he had become a wheelchair user. In 2007, he joined the wheelchair rugby team and even won gold. Although he wasn't part of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, he led the Olympic and Paralympic Parade of the Heroes through London on the team's return.

A few years later, he was appointed captain of the team, with them coming in fifth at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Zara Woodcock

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