Julian Norton has been a key figure on Channel 5’s Yorkshire Vet for all 22 series.
This week, viewers will be treated to a special episode of the long-running show, with a Night Shift instalment.
Fans will see the team tackle the most serious cases on the night shift, which will include a spaniel injured after a freak accident on a woodland walk and an angry fighting cat brought in after a late-night scrap.
Meanwhile, Julian is helping a team of volunteers in Thirsk to protect a group of ducks, who every night are making the journey from the riverbank to the busy town centre.
We’re taking a look at Julian Norton’s life outside of the Channel 5 show.
View 5 ImagesJulian’s wife Anne appeared on some of the earlier series of the show(Image: Channel 5)
Julian isn’t the only person in his household with veterinary skills, as his wife, Anne, is also a vet, with the pair opening up their own independent practice in March 2021.
While it’s not known when the pair tied the knot, the Channel 5 star shared a photo of them together on social media from 2014, suggesting they’d been together for years prior.
They share two children together, Jack and Archie, whom Julian often shows photos of on social media for their rowing achievements.
Although Anne has been a vet for many years, having graduated as a veterinary surgeon from Cambridge Vet School in 1995, she only showcased her skills on the beloved Channel 5 show four years after it first aired.
Speaking about her appearance to The Yorkshire Post, she said: “I’d been on previously as the wife with the kids but I’m a lot happier being on as a vet doing what I do.”
View 5 ImagesYorkshire Vet stars Julian Norton and Peter Wright both left the Skeldale clinic(Image: (Image: CHANNEL 5))
In the early years of Yorkshire Vet, viewers saw both Julian and Peter work at Skeldale Veterinary Centre in Thirsk.
However, in 2018 Julian decided to leave the famous practice as they merged with veterinary group Medivet, which operates more than 200 practices across England and Wales.
A year later, he opened up a veterinary practice in Wetherby before opening another independent vet with his wife in Thirsk in 2021.
Speaking about his decision to leave at the time, Julian told the Darlington and Stock Times: “It wasn’t the way I wanted the practice to go. I didn’t think it offered necessarily the best way forward. It was a difficult decision, it was part of my life, it was a big change.”
View 5 ImagesJulian Norton had to spend six weeks off of work after the incident (Image: Channel 5)
Two years ago, Julian suffered a nasty injury when he fell off his bike while cycling near Kilburn. It resulted in the TV star having to be saved by a Mountain Rescue team after he damaged his knee on a large rock and was unable to walk.
After two hours, the Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team arrived, as Julian managed to move just half a metre to rest against a nearby tree.
He was taken to the hospital, where he underwent surgery for his injuries as he sustained a severed patella ligament, resulting in six weeks off work.
When he returned to the practice on the Channel 5 show, in crutches, he commented: “I’m feeling like the pace of life for me, at the moment, it’s feeling a little bit like semi-retirement because everything is very slow. I can’t do anything in a hurry or at pace.”
View 5 ImagesThe Channel 5 vet was once a record-holder(Image: Channel 5)
It seems as though Julian has passed off his sporting genes to his sons, as the Channel 5 star was once quite the athlete himself.
In 2010, he held the world record for 24-hour tandem indoor rowing with close friend and ex-Olympian, Roger Brown.
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A few years later, in 2014 and 2015, Julian represented Britain at the age-group level in the European Long Course Duathlon and at the European Middle Distance Triathlon championships the same years.
A year prior to that, he competed in the UK Ironman event, finishing in the top 50
The Yorkshire Vet is available to watch on Channel 5