Springwatch presenter Chris Packham admitted he suffers financially in order to fight for “environmental justice”. The BBC star admitted he is motivated to get up in the mornings to work and make money, but it hasn’t always paid off after he suffered a “big financial loss”.

In an interview with The I, BBC star Chris said he pays out of his own pocket for the causes he believes in, admitting: “One of the reasons I get up and go to work in the morning is so I can spend money fighting for causes I believe in – and I’ve made a big financial loss in that process. Some people support part of the work I do, but a lot of it comes out of my own pocket, including many conservation campaigns.”

“Some people want cars and holidays, but what I want is the ability to stand up and make a noise and get some positive change.”

It comes after the star was forced to pay £200,000 to a pensioner in a legal battle. In 2023, Chris was awarded £90,000 in the High Court in a defamation case, after he was wrongly accused of misleading people into donating to a tiger rescue charity.

However, he was accused of pursuing the proofreader of said article “vindictively” through the courts and made liable for his legal costs – more than double the amount he was awarded in damages.

The judge at the time ruled Chris had not committed any fraud, but said the proofreader, Paul Read, “had no editorial or equivalent responsibility” and dismissed the case against him.

Dr Ruth Tingay, a friend and colleague of Chris’s, set up a crowdfunding pot to raise money for his legal costs which reached an epic £140,315.