Yvette Fielding claims she was bullied on Blue Peter and forced to live with the show’s dog Bonnie during her ‘traumatic’ first year: ‘I was a shaking, jibbering wreck’

Yvette Fielding claimed she was bullied at Blue Peter and forced to live with golden retriever Bonnie during her “traumatic” first year.

The presenter, 55, who became the show’s youngest presenter when she joined the show in 1987 at the age of 18, said she was left a “shaking, shaking wreck” after being “scolded” by her former boss Biddy Baxter.

Yvette claimed that after getting the job she had to leave her parents’ house, flying to Russia for six weeks before producers told her she had to live with and take care of Bonnie.

The TV personality said the responsibility of looking after Bonnie, who was a puppy from another litter of Blue Peter dogs, Goldie, was daunting as she was “the most famous dog in the country”.

“I felt very lonely because I was the youngest. I was considered a kid — and a pain in the ass,” Yvette said on the Celebrity Catch-Up: Life After That Thing I Did podcast.

‘Nightmare’: Yvette Fielding claimed she was bullied on Blue Peter and forced to live with golden retriever Bonnie during her ‘traumatic’ first year

Difficult: Yvette claimed that after being offered the job she had to leave her parents’ house and was told by producers that she had to live with Bonnie (pictured with Mark Curry and Caron Keating in 1988)

“I didn’t enjoy my first year. I found it very traumatic. It got to the point where I had had enough. Because I was forced to live with a dog, I had no right to say, “You’re going to move out of your apartment and move into this house with a dog.”

“Given this dog to take care of at 18 years old, and not just a dog – the most famous dog in the country.”

“Poor Bonnie longed for her owner, scratching at the door every night. It was too disturbing.

“Imagine how heartbroken it would be if something happened to her.” It would be a national mourning.’

Bonnie first appeared on the show when she was six weeks old and later took over from her mother when she retired in the summer of 1986.

Yvette was desperate to impress Biddy, who had edited the show for 25 years.

“The problem was that I was trying so hard to please my boss, but my boss seemed – I don’t know why – incredibly cruel,” she said.

“I thought I was going to be OK and then I was told I was useless. Absolutely useless, again and again and again and again.’

‘I was a shaking, shaking wreck’: Yvette claimed she was ‘bullied’ by her former boss Biddy Baxter, who edited the show for 25 years (Biddy pictured in 2013)

Learning curve: Most Haunted host says her experience with Biddy shaped her career and she has ‘no bitterness’ towards her

Daunting: The TV personality said the responsibility of looking after Bonnie, who was one of Blue Peter’s second litter of dogs, Goldie, was daunting (pictured together in 1987)

“I wanted her to be so proud of me, but it was like being beaten by a parent.” Every time I did what I thought was right, she would come back and say something awful, or scold me in front of other people. It was absolutely soul destroying.’

Yvette added: “You have to be confident in front of eight million people twice a week, but my confidence was at an all-time low. I was a shaking, babbling wreck.’

The Most Haunted host said her experience with Biddy shaped her career and she has ‘no bitterness’ towards her.

She said: “So many horrible people in the television industry… I always thank Bida because I think, if it wasn’t for her, there’s no way I would have stood up, told them where to go and got on with it.”

‘She did it. She gave me the balls to do it. And thank her for that. There is no bitterness here.

But when people say to me, “Oh, wasn’t it wonderful? Didn’t you have a great time?” I mean, no, not the first year. It was scary. It was like a nightmare.’

The BBC has been contacted for comment.

Yvette left after five years in 1992 and went on to present ITV’s Saturday show What’s Up Doc? and then Disney Adventures in 1995.

She now presents the series Most Haunted with her husband Carl Beattie.