‘Surreal’ and ‘hilarious’ moment Michaela Strachan is serenaded with song inspired by her at Scouting For Girls concert

Michaela Strachan recalls the surreal moment thousands of people performed a song inspired by her at a Scouting For Girls concert.

The Springwatch presenter, 58, who moved to Cape Town in 2002, is currently back in Britain as she trains for her upcoming stint on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

And to make the most of her time here, Michaela spent a night off in November to see the band live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

However, the TV star has a very special bond with the group, as Scouting For Girls’ 2007 debut album included a song about her, which was even named after her.

The tune, called Michaela Strachan, contains lyrics about a boy who comes home from school, sees Michaela on the television and falls in love.

‘You helped me to sleep. I really liked you, but so did my father.’ There’s a big sing-along chorus: ‘It’s not going to happen for me and the Strachan.’

After attending the performance with a friend and receiving a special shoutout, Michaela joked, “Oh my God, it was hilarious. I was sitting there and the singer said, ‘You all know the song. There was a woman who broke my heart when I was twelve. Well, she’s here tonight!’

‘A spotlight comes on me and I get to see a thousand people in the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire holding up phone lights, waving and singing to me. It was one of those moments where you’re trying to be terribly humble, but then I thought, ‘You know what? That’s crazy!’

Jumping to her feet to wave back to the audience and take in the adoration, she admitted, “I’m just a showgirl at heart. It was the most surreal night I’ve had in a long time. I left with the biggest grin on my face.”

Michaela was born in Surrey but moved to Cape Town in 2002 after falling in love with Nick Chevallier, a South African cinematographer and producer.

It comes just after Michaela opened up about the emotional toll of her battle with breast cancer and lifted the lid on her worries as she prepared to hit the rink for Dancing On Ice next week.

The Springwatch presenter was diagnosed in early 2014 after a routine mammogram and made a full recovery after a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery.

When it comes to taking part in the ITV show, Michaela has honestly admitted that it’s the tight tops that bother her, and not the fear of horrific injuries.

“I don’t want to be defined by this, but if it helps people, I don’t mind talking about it,” she said.

‘I went for a routine mammogram on Monday. That evening the doctor called and said, “I’m sorry, you have breast cancer.”

She drove home to Cape Town. ‘All I heard was ‘cancer’. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have to tell Nick.’

Michaela’s partner Nick had lost his wife Nicky, the mother of three of his children, to cancer. When I asked how he took it, Michaela said softly, “It was hard. It was really difficult.’

Others had the same question, which irritated her. “His friends were like, ‘Oh my God, what did Nick say?’ You get to the point where you’re like, “Hey, I feel sorry for Nick too, but this is happening to me!”

Things moved quickly because they had private health care. ‘On Wednesday I was at the specialist. He said the most bizarre thing: “Considering that you have breast cancer, this is the best news: we caught it early and can treat it. Go home and have a glass of champagne.’

The cancer was difficult to recognize. “It wasn’t a lump, so we were grateful to the guy who did the biopsy.”

Doctors offered her the choice of having one or two breasts removed. ‘I was talking to a friend who had a double mastectomy and he said, ‘If I were you I’d take them both off or you’ll be worried.’

From diagnosis to recovery took six weeks. ‘Only then do you process it all. That takes time.’

She has thought about this a lot since then. “Surely there’s a better way to deal with a little bit of cancer in a woman’s breast than cutting it off?” It seems cruel, doesn’t it? I hope that in twenty years this will no longer be the case. It’s quite a job to rip off a woman’s breasts.’

Michaela has undergone reconstructive surgery and has asked the Dancing On Ice stylists to take this into account. “Of course I’m very brave and all, but I don’t want a tight top around my boobs, thank you very much.”

She is short and slim in her black jeans and floral print shirt, but Michaela says she has lost weight during training.

‘You work so hard that you forget lunch. We eat a banana and that’s it. I’m on an endorphin rush right now.”

Michaela added: ‘Most days I’ve also been doing yoga or pilates and going to a spa where I swim and sit in the steam room or sauna, which helps. The first few weeks I worked with Mark, everything hurt.”

The star has now lifted the lid on her health, saying: ‘No one is free forever. I took the drug tamoxifen for five years. Then I got the all-clear signal. When people call me a cancer survivor, it’s shocking. I forget I had it. It’s a great position to be in.’

There was a terrible memory last year, when her friend Lucy Bowden, a former Springwatch producer, was given a similar diagnosis and choice.

‘They discovered the cancer early, it had not yet spread. One breast was taken from her. She was unlucky,” Michaela says bluntly.

“The cancer came back.” Lucy’s funeral was the week before Michaela took part in the BBC show Pilgrimage. ‘I was grieving the death of one of my best friends. I walked that with her.’

A priest invited those walking the North Wales Pilgrims’ Way to write a name on a stone and leave it on the beach, in memory of someone they had lost.

Michaela broke down. ‘I wasn’t sure how comfortable I felt with raw emotions being filmed. Most of the time I have myself under control. The camera pointed at you while you cry is an extra layer to deal with.”

Michaela still thinks about Lucy. “I’m sad she’s not here to see me do this; she would have been the friend who invested 100 percent in this trip. She was Ms. Entertainment Telly.” There’s a catch in Michaela’s voice. “I really miss her.”

When Michaela was finally asked if she would ever consider coming back to live in Britain, she reasoned: ‘I’ll never say anything again. Who knows? I really enjoyed my time here. I thoroughly made the best of it. I’ve been going out every night.’

“I miss my home, my partner and my dog, but since I’m here I’ve embraced it,” she said. ‘To every woman who feels like an empty nest: take up the challenge. Doing this made me feel twenty years younger.”

Her face lit up. “I’m not at home in an empty house thinking, ‘What do I do now?’ Do something for yourself. It has brought me real joy.”

Dancing On Ice returns on January 12 from 6.30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.