TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh appeared on This Morning today (October 4) and told hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond about “stresses and strains” affecting him in his private life.
The Love Your Weekend host, who’s been married to wife Alison for 50 years, revealed he has “enough to cope with” when it comes to his family, and this is why he largely avoids social media.
Telling Dermot and Alison that hosting his peaceful Sunday morning show is a “real luxury”, Alan said that he uses Instagram as an extension of the series. And, as a result, he only uses the platform to share pictures of plants, flowers and his garden.
And, Alan said, he never takes any notice of any of the negativity online because his time is already taken up with “worrying” about his family.
Alan Titchmarsh on family ‘worries’
During the interview, he said: “From my point of view, I do a little bit of Instagram, which is just plants, flowers and a little bit of gardening. I’m not on Twitter, I’m not on Facebook. I don’t look at it because I have enough to cope with.”
Alan then added: “I’m not denying real life, I’m choosing a part of life I can cope with. And like everyone else, stresses and strains come from my own family and friends. I worry about them. And I try not to worry about what people say about me because what’s the point?”
‘All I do is drone on’
The TV gardening guru also said that, despite his lack of interest in becoming a television presenter initially, his enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge won out in the end. And this was why he turned to TV full-time.
“I started life as an apprentice gardener at 15 and I’ve always been interested in sharing a passion. I’ve always liked words. I enjoy people’s company, whoever they are, if they’ve got conversation.”
He then quipped: “And I’m not wild about Hollywood stars who tend to be quite difficult. I’d much rather talk to people we talk to on the programme who just have a great story.
“I enjoy company and enjoy listening as well as talking. On a show like this, all I do is drone on,” he said, speaking about his This Morning appearance. It’s much nicer asking the questions.”
Read more: Alan Titchmarsh on wife’s warning over his health and how it means Strictly is a no-no
Love Your Weekend is on Sundays at 9.30am on ITV1.
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