The presenter has previously spoken about how his childhood in Surrey prompted his love of nature.
He said his parents took on a smallholding in their 30s, adding: “We filled it with rescue animals, about which we had no idea, we were making everything up as we went along.”
Backshall recalled it as a “crazy version” of the TV sitcom The Good Life.
He said: “That was my childhood and it was absolutely incredible.”
Backshall studied at Canterbury Christ Church, carrying out research into venoms from amphibians, and later received an honorary doctorate from the university.
Explaining his focus on the world’s most formidable predators in his TV series Deadly 60, he said: “We deliberately deal with animals like birds of prey and sharks and crocodiles and snakes and spiders and scorpions, big cats, that kind that everyone is fascinated by.
“Regardless of whether they think they like wildlife or not, they’re going to be vaguely interested in those things.”
Laughing, he added: “Even if they’re not, they might watch anyway in the vague hope that I might get savaged by something.”
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