Dan Walker has said he is feeling “a lot better” as he announced his return to Channel 5 News following his bike crash last week.
The broadcaster, 45, confirmed he would be back in his anchor role on 5News on Thursday evening after spending the past 10 days recovering from being hit by a car while he had been riding his bike in Sheffield.
Walker also revealed that his time on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 had come in handy as he has been going back over his past routines to test his brain and body.
“I watched some of my old dances back from Strictly, and I was testing to see whether my brain and body remembered them"@mrdanwalker gives his first interview since his accident, and reveals more about his new @channel5_tv show -'Vanished'@ITNProductions | @thejeremyvine pic.twitter.com/VZjjJnj1tE
— Jeremy Vine On 5 (@JeremyVineOn5) March 2, 2023
Joining Jeremy Vine on his Channel 5 show on Thursday morning, the presenter remarked how much better Walker was looking since the accident on February 20.
Reflecting on an image of his previously battered and bruised face, Walker said: “I feel a lot better as well… I mean, look at the state of that. I can’t believe that’s maybe nine or 10 days ago. My kids think I’m like Wolverine.
“I’m very thankful that I’ve healed. Basically, there’s been a few lumps and bumps and grazes all over the place. I’ve got a badly damaged hand. I won’t take my trousers off, Jeremy, but I’ve got a massive bruise on my right hip at the moment. ”
Walker added that he was “really thankful” to the paramedics, police, and those that looked after him in the hospital.
He also revealed the police had informed him that five members of the public had sat with him for 25 minutes until the ambulance turned up.
“I’ve got zero memory of any of that, Jeremy, I can’t remember anything the moment I arrived at the roundabout, but it’s things like that, the goodness of people in difficult situations”, he said.
Bit of an accident this morning. Glad to be alive after getting hit by a car on my bike. Face is a mess but I don’t think anything is broken. Thanks to Shaun and Jamie for sorting me out and the lovely copper at the scene. This is my smiling 😂Thankful for our NHS ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jt4FdaQDUU
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) February 20, 2023
Walker said he does not remember much of the accident but he described coming around after passing out as an “out-of-body experience”.
“I have no recollection of what happened in between those two times and the paramedics said it took them about 25 minutes to get there,” he revealed.
“I know there’s a video doing the rounds but I’ve not watched it. I don’t want to watch it. I haven’t got any flashbacks. And I don’t really want to have any either.
“I’m just very thankful that I’m here and I’m OK and the scans all say that my brain is fine and if I can get out of it with a few lumps and bumps, like I said, I’m very thankful.”
Following the positive news that his brain scans are clear, Walker confirmed he could be returning to his news anchor role, saying “the news never stops and we keep cracking on”.
On Wednesday evening, the broadcaster hosted the Royal Television Society Awards, his first major television event since the accident.
He said at the event many people were asking if he had been regularly monitoring himself for a concussion and he revealed he had been using videos of his Strictly Come Dancing experience routines with his former dance partner Nadiya Bychkova to test himself.
“Strictly for me was quite a mental strain in terms of learning all those dance moves and trying to get to grips with it all,” he explained.
“So I watch some of my old dancing (videos) back and then I pause them and I was testing my brain and my body to think, ‘Does my brain know what the next move is and can my body remember it?’ And it did on every single occasion.
“So I told Nadiya that she’s helped me with my recovery from this accident, so Strictly does help even years after.”