[1] Baker was born on 23 December 1977 at Easington in County Durham where his father ran a newsagent's shop,[2] and his parents had a smallholding in the village.

Matt attended Easington Village School, then, when he was aged 10, his parents bought a farm west of Durham, which they moved into and renovated.

In the late 1990s, as a drama student at Queen Margaret University College, Baker worked as an entertainer, and with a 1970s comedy disco-dancing revival show called "Disco Inferno", which toured the north of England.

Having just finished the second year of a three-year course at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, his future wife's aunt spotted that Blue Peter was looking for a new presenter.

After calling into the Editor's office direct, Baker put together a showreel with footage in the farmyard; reading a story; and riding a unicycle.

His gymnastic background helped him in physical challenges, including training as a stuntman, and passing the recruitment courses for both the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment.

In 2003, Baker learned to fly hang gliders and made a successful tandem world record-breaking flight with Airways Airsports instructor Judy Leden MBE.

[8] During his seven years on Blue Peter, Matt's colleagues were Katy Hill, Konnie Huq, Simon Thomas, Liz Barker, Zöe Salmon and Gethin Jones.

[10] In August 2010, Baker co-presented the first series of Secret Britain with Julia Bradbury and presented One Man and His Dog with Kate Humble.

[1] On 8 March 2011, Baker gained media attention by asking then-Prime Minister David Cameron, "How on earth do you sleep at night?".

For Children in Need, Baker rode a bicycle towing a rickshaw 484 miles from Edinburgh to London in 2011, which took about a week up to the fund raising night on 18 November.

[18] In 2010, Baker participated in the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he was partnered with professional ballroom dancer Aliona Vilani,[7] finishing in second place to the winners Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev in the final.

Baker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for charitable and voluntary services to fundraising.