Alan Titchmarsh has little time for critics (Image: Spungold Productions)
Alan Titchmarsh’s unapologetically old-fashioned cosy style has drawn a good deal of flak over the years. He’s reportedly one of the inspirations for Steve Coogan’s appalling TV presenter character, Alan Partridge.
But the veteran gardener – he’ll turn 76 this May – seems immune to criticism. Last month, after the Love Your Garden team descended on Grantham in Lincolnshire to transform Rob and Margaret Isdale’s ordinary suburban garden into a “Secret Garden” complete with faux ruins and a mock-Tudor shed.
Alan’s ideas for decorating the garden with “ancient looking follies” sparked outrage on social media, with many accusing him of “ruining” the garden, but the Yorkshire-born presenter met his critics with a blunt response.
He told the i newspaper that he was “very proud” of the work he’d done, adding: “I like it, they like it – what’s wrong with that?!”
Alan had built fake ‘ruins’ in the garden (Image: ITV)
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He’s defiantly middle-of-the-road in his outlook, saying his ideal political party would “reward personal endeavour, but also look after those who can’t look after themselves.”
He stresses that he and wife Alison “had it tough” when they were a young married couple, and dismisses complaints from today’s young people who say that they’ve been priced out of the housing market because wages have failed to keep pace with rising costs.
“We had it hard in the 70s too,” Alan says. “When Alison and I bought our first house in 1975 the was a priority and you had to really save up for other things.
‘I like it, they like it,’ says Alan. ‘What’s wrong with that?!’ (Image: Spungold Productions)
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“These days, young people are expected to have far more things that put a drain on their income: mobile phones, , Starbucks. We did not have those luxuries.”
He stops short of saying that life was harder in the the 1960s, but says that in his view it was no easier either. “I think it was just as difficult,” he says. “I think it’s uninformed of younger people to assume we had it easy. It’s always been tough.”
He adds that young peoples’ concerns about the unfolding climate catastrophe are valid, but need to be kept in proportion: “Those fears are well grounded,” he says. “But they mustn’t override our appreciation for the world that’s directly around us.”