Alan Titchmarsh has said he was given a two-word nickname by local children when he was younger (Image: Getty)
Alan Titchmarsh has revealed that he was given an unwanted two-word nickname after he left school with just one O-level to become an apprentice gardener.
Alan, 75, was speaking to The Times about his early gardening career when he made the admission about how he was treated by local students when he joined Ilkley Council as a apprentice gardener.
He said that, alongside feeling different to the other kids, his relatively small size made him a target for bullies: “I was little. I was 4ft 10in when I left school [at 15]. I felt completely different to the other kids. I was bullied a bit.
“I remember somebody telling me, ‘You know they call you the council weedster,’…To go along the poshest street in Ilkley with a denim apron, watering the hanging baskets, when all the kids were on the way to grammar school to do their A-levels, it’s like running the gauntlet every morning.”
However, Alan survived the bullying and went onto to become one of the country’s most famous faces, fronting gardening coverage that inspired millions of people.
Alan Titchmarsh (Image: Getty)
In recent years Alan has been reflecting on his career and how he feels both about what he has achieved and what his legacy will be.
Last year, the former Ground Force presenter shared his fears about when he might die as he recalls how his dad died when he was just 62.
He told Yours magazine: I’m on statins. I wish I wasn’t. I don’t like the thought of taking tablets every day, but I’m following my doctor’s advice. He thinks it’s a good idea.
“The thing is, the men in my family have had a tendency to die from at a relatively young age. My dad, for instance, died suddenly in 1986 from a heart attack, aged just 62.”
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Alan added the fact he has now out-lived his dad has made him look at life in a new way and think reflectively about his health.
He added: “Outliving my dad has made me think about things. The truth of the matter is that I’ve decided to ease up a bit, and pace myself.”
Alan even admitted that he had been approached by the to appear on , but his wife Alison – a former dance tutor – had advised him against it. He said that she was “convinced my knees wouldn’t stay the course”.
Thinking deeply about what he has chosen to do in life and how gardening has been his raison d’etre (reason for being), Alan once told greatbritishlife.co.uk: “I think we all need a purpose in life, a reason to get up in the morning. So at the very least I will always be a gardener it is what I am and I couldn’t do without it.”