BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker has been a giant since he was born, when he came into the world weighing a whopping 10lbs 10oz. Height is something he’s always carried with him, from his lanky teenage years to the 6ft 6in he reached in adulthood.

Over the years the 43-year-old presenter has had to shrink himself to not look quite so tall to some of the shorter people he interviews, has bumped his head on more door frames than he cares to remember, and frequently has to let down his trousers.

Here Walker, who is married with three children and lives in Sheffield, reveals the pros and cons of his lofty stature…

Have you always been tall?

“I was a bit jaundiced when I was born and my mum tells me I couldn’t fit into the incubator, so they had to put two incubators side by side lengthways so they could fit me in. I was an absolute unit!”

How tall were you when you started secondary school?“I was easily 6ft-plus. I didn’t get picked on, though. I had a good bunch of friends and I’ve always been able to deal with criticism or insults quite well. I just laugh it off or make a joke of it and move on. I loved every minute of school – I don’t think I missed a day. The ribbing and joking helped us become well-rounded individuals, because you never got a big head.”

Did your height help you make school sports teams?“Well, I didn’t play basketball, but I played loads of football and tennis. Height is always an advantage.”

Do you ever try to appear smaller than you are?

“I do occasionally do the straddle and try to reduce my height a little bit, if I’m interviewing somebody smaller. If you are interviewing somebody who’s not particularly tall, it can look like you’re interviewing a small child.

“I once did a piece to camera with [retired jockey] Willie Carson at Epsom. We were walking along a bank and for some reason I was standing up the bank and he was standing down. It looked like it was Gandalf and Bilbo. It was horrendous.”

Has your height given you back issues?“I just have ‘tall man’ issues. This sounds very showbiz – I fell off a stage at Wembley a few years ago. It was the Champions League final and I was hosting this big event in the arena next door in the build-up. In the rehearsal, it was really dark and I just fell off the stage and landed 6ft down on my back on a load of plugs. That hasn’t helped.”

What about other obstacles?

“Well, door frames are 6ft 6in and I’ve whacked my head on my fair share of those. I just naturally duck. I look like I’m paying respect when I walk into every room, because I naturally bow.”

Do you have to have a specially made bed?“No! I’m not like Peter Crouch, who I believe is 6ft 7!”

Do you have difficulty buying clothes?

“I can’t get trousers anywhere. I have to let all my trousers down. Thankfully they do bigger shoes these days, because when I was growing up I was a size 12 – it was impossible to get shoes anywhere.

“They [shop assistants] used to look at you as though you were an absolute freak when you asked if they did shoes in a 12. I think sizes have changed since then, or I’ve shrunk, because I’m now an 11 in some shoes and a 12 in others. It’s very confusing.”

What would your older self tell your younger self?

“Get clothes to fit. I never really grew into my body until I was in my mid-20s. Remember those characters from Beetlejuice with really small heads and massive bodies? When you are an uncomfortable teenager, I used to wear XXL t-shirts and everything was baggy and hung off me.”

Are you stared at?

“I went to China to film a documentary once – I write about this in my latest book, Remarkable People – and me and my bearded cameraman Bob were like a feature because I was this huge UK guy and he had the world’s longest beard, so between us we were a bit of a freak show walking down the street.

“Anywhere we went in China we attracted a crowd. People stroked Bob’s beard and wanted their picture taken with the freakily tall pasty bloke.”

Do you have problems with seating on public transport?“It’s very hard to fit into any aeroplane seat. I tend to turn right on an aeroplane, just in case you are wondering, and it’s hard to sit anywhere.”

So, what are the benefits of being so tall?

“I could always reach the biscuit jar which my mum used to put on the top shelf. That was a bonus. And you never lose somebody in a crowd, which is very important.”

Remarkable People by Dan Walker is published by Headline, priced £20. Available now.