‘This is what I love doing'

From his Hampshire home, Alan Titchmarsh talks to TV Times about his Sunday morning celebration of the very ‘stuff of life’!

- Tess Lamacraft

LOVE YOUR WEEKEND

SUNDAY / ITV / 10AM / EP 2 of 10 / LIFESTYLE

On a crisp, blue-skied winter morning, we call gardener, presenter, author and the recipient of TV Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award, Alan Titchmarsh at his Hampshire home.

‘It’s lovely here, the sun’s out and I’m sitting in the barn across from our house where I do all my writing. I’m looking out across our wildlife pond,’ smiles Alan who has recently begun work on his 12th novel.

This is a rare moment to pause and reflect for Alan, 71, who has been as busy as ever during the on-going pandemic.

As well as writing and hosting his weekly show on radio station Classic FM, he brought us a brand new series, Grow Your Own at Home, from the gardens of the home he shares with his wife Alison, and now is back with his Sunday morning series, Love Your Weekend, a celebration of ‘the stuff of life’!

Here, Alan tells us about filming with his wife, working with Birds of a Feather star Lesley Joseph and why he’s stopped making New Year’s resolutions…

What do you love most about making Love Your Weekend?

I love the fact it’s filmed only 20 minutes from where I live, that’s very convenient! But the main thing I love is it’s the stuff of life for me; the combination of gardening, a bit of DIY, all the countryside features we do with animals, crafts and landscape, chatting to guests. I’ve lived in the country ever since I’ve been married and I was born and brought up in the Yorkshire Dales. My job, my vocation, has always been to connect people to the great outdoors. This is me doing what I love.