IT’S as if Chris Evans is at home.

Well he is – almost.

He’s strolling around the gardens of his regular haunt – the luxury country house hotel the Chewton Glen in New Milton – with a glass of coke in his hand.

He’s so relaxed he’s sporting a zip-up navy waterproof jacket, rolled up cream trousers showing off his pale blue socks, yes really, and what can only be described as slippers.

Chris’ wife Natasha Shishmanian, 33, a golf pro and model, gently pushes their one-year-old son Eli in a rocker.

Meanwhile the couple’s oldest son Noah, five, careers around the gardens so fast he almost loses his trendy straw hat. That’s before he makes us all giggle by telling us about his favourite car in his dad’s collection which takes pride of place across the croquet lawn.

And we’re not just talking about a car for the weekend and one for the wife.

There are no fewer than 12 rare Ferraris and classic cars worth millions of pounds lined up.

Noah has good taste.

His favourite is the 1965 Aston Martin DB5, which appeared in the James Bond film GoldenEye.

The Evans family are so at ease here it doesn’t surprise me to discover Hampshire is like a second home to them.

I wander up to the BBC Radio Two breakfast presenter and The One Show star to find out why.

“It’s literally a pull, a magnet,” said Chris, after warmly greeting me by my first name.

He’s taller than I imagined at 6ft and looks younger than 47. Despite wearing oversized sunglasses rather than his trademark thick-rimmed specs and his hair appearing more blond than ginger, there is no disguising that huge grin and pink skin glowing through his salt and pepper beard.

“It just feels quite special, you know?

It’s somewhere in between civilisation and some kind of hedonistic hippydom. It’s the safe side of both, do you know what I mean? It’s got that feel to it.

“I’d say to any foreigner or alien visiting England just get into London and then immediately just get a ticket for Hampshire.

“Stay in London for as few minutes as possible and just get here as quickly as you can.”

Given his obvious enthusiasm for Hampshire, it’s surprising Chris Evans only discovered the county’s charms in 2007 – the same year he divorced pop star and actress Billie Piper following a two-year separation and married Natasha.

He explained: “I came totally by accident.

“Tash and I lost our passports for our honeymoon. James Martin was cooking an exhibition lunch here and he said ‘I’ve heard you’ve lost your passports. Come here. It’s called Chewton Glen. I will save your honeymoon.’ Which he did! He cooked us a dinner. We were going to Kenya on safari but we lost our passports literally the day before.

“But we came down here and obviously fell in love with Chewton Glen and we come here all the time now.”

His voice is louder and more animated than most and it demands I keep up as if he is “on air” mode.

His face lights up as he tells me how he rates the county’s driving roads – although he stresses he never listens to music in his car, instead preferring the roar of the engine as he heads into the county. And that seems to be a routine now. He famously presented a drivetime show at the Woodfalls Inn in the New Forest and now organises the annual CarFest for Children in Need at Laverstoke Park near Overton, the farm owned by ex-Formula One champion Jody Scheckter.

He’s a huge fan of Lymington where he keeps his boat and enjoys homemade fish finger sandwiches with his family at his favourite eatery there, The Haven.

But when he isn’t in the town he calls “the new Monte Carlo” but better because “no one cares how big anyone else’s boat is”, he spends his time at the Chewton Glen. (He’s even been known to land his helicopter there just for a coffee.) He explained: “I think somewhere like this is like the house you’d want to have, isn’t it?

“So in that case, let’s just stay here!

It’s the country house we all wish we had with the kind of service none of us could ever afford!”

“You come, you turn up, you leave your worries at the door and you wait when you go out to pick them up again.”

We both nod at each other agreeing it’s the house of our dreams.

But despite the down-to-earth chit chat – undoubtedly a hint of his humble roots as the son of a wages clerk from a Warrington council estate – the reality is Chris Evans probably could afford to buy the luxury venue.

He began his broadcasting career at Manchester Piccadilly radio and went on to become a household name in TV and radio. With his production company Ginger he launched and presented Channel 4 shows The Big Breakfast, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush and TFI Friday. In 1995 he joined Radio One hosting the flagship breakfast show but controversially left.

He joined Virgin Radio’s breakfast show eventually acquiring the station for £87m. But he went on to sell the Ginger Media Group (including Virgin Radio) in 2000 for £225m making him the highest paid entertainer in the country.

However nobody could accuse the star of being arrogant.

In fact his selflessness is exactly why we are at the luxury country house today, for the petrolhead’s annual BBC Children in Need fundraiser where he generously hands over the keys of his treasured car collection to strangers in return for donations.

It’s the fifth year the car-loving presenter has auctioned off the countryside drive which starts from his Berkshire home and tours around various landmarks.

This year alone he raised a staggering £801,797 and was quick to encourage everyone in Hampshire to support the charity. He said: “If people have got kids, even if they haven’t got kids, we’re all aware of how lucky we are so just do what you can if you can.

“Also the great thing about forking out some cash or time or whatever you can give to help somebody less fortunate than yourself is it makes you feel so good.”

He seems uncomfortable with praise for being so charitable.

“I do this because I’m the most selfish person in the world. It makes me feel great.

“It’s just totally selfish. Doing this, I go to bed with a smile on my face, it’s a win, win, win situation and who doesn’t want one of those?”