Alan Titchmarsh's life off-screen - sex guru denial and his racy side hustle
When you think of Alan Titchmarsh, you likely think of his gardening programmes Ground Force, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, or Love Your Garden.
But that's not all the 76-year-old green-fingered expert is good at.
The green-fingered expert became a pro with plants after studying at the Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture. He then moved on to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to study for a Diploma in Horticulture and after graduating he remained at Kew as a supervisor before pursuing a career in gardening journalism.
However, he soon found himself in the world of publishing after getting a job as an assistant editor of gardening books, and went on to publish his own tome in 1976.
But you might not know that gardening books aren't the only ones the presenter has under his belt - he also has a rather interesting side hustle writing racy novels.
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He's written a number of racy books over the years (Daily Record)
He won a dubious literary award for writing bad sex (Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)In addition to gardening how-to guides, biographies, and National Geographic books, Titchmarsh is also the best-selling author of several raunchy fiction novels that fans of Jilly Cooper would love. These include titles such as The Scarlet Nightingale, Animal Instincts, and Love and Dr Devon.
Titchmarsh has written numerous sex scenes in his books but claims they've gotten progressively less racy over the years, which might be for the best as his first novel, Mr MacGregor was in the running for the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award in 1998 - and he felt awkward reading the love scenes aloud for the audiobooks.
He previously told the Mirror: "My first book was a bit of a romp, but when you come to record the audiobook – that's when you get your comeuppance.
"When you've got to sit in a room on your own, with a sheet of glass between you and a very large, bearded man twiddling knobs, and say the words."
Speaking to The Mirror in 2015, he added: "I do laugh when my novels are classed as racy because they've got progressively less racy – I've written nine to date, and if people read them now they might be disappointed they aren't racy enough! I don't write anything shocking.
"I'm a man of the world, and most people have all kinds of feelings and sensibilities and I express them."
Alan's wife Alison doesn't believe he's a 'sex symbol' (Corbis via Getty Images)
He claims the secret to their long marriage is being 'thoughtful' (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)But what do his children make of his works of fiction? Thankfully he claims his daughters, Polly, 41, and Camilla, 39, haven't read them.
"That's a lot to ask, reading a love story written by your father. They're like all children, they can't believe their parents actually do anything," he admits.
But while his daughters may not be fans for obvious reasons, it seems Alan has garnered a very supportive fan base, leaving many ladies feeling hot under the collar - so much so that there were reports a few years ago that his Madame Tussauds waxwork was attracting a lot of female attention and being "fondled".
And while Alan was "chuffed" by the Max Factor marks on his waxwork, his wife of 48 years was said to be in disbelief over his newfound 'sex symbol' status.
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"I'm chuffed to bits I had a waxwork that was kissed a lot," he told The Mirror. "But it raised eyebrows from the children and wife. When we heard about it, Alison thought they must have been talking about someone else."
But one woman who had no trouble recognising his charm was the late Queen Elizabeth II, who when awarding him an MBE in 2000, said: "You give a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure."
His body has suffered as a result of years of gardeningWhile it's fair to say he has become a heartthrob among a generation, Titchmarsh has previously been forced to deny that he's an actual sex guru.
This came after a prankster updated his Wikipedia page with some false claims, including that Alan had written his own version of the Karma Sutra and that he was a trustee of a charity called Gardens for Squats.
"I wish I knew how to change Wikipedia," he said of the prank back in 2009.
In addition to his hordes of adoring fans, he's also garnered appreciation from the rich and famous, with celebs clamouring for his advice.
"Elton John once asked me about his maidenhair fern," he said. "Funnily enough, I went to see him last year (2014) for Britain's Best Back Garden – he has the most amazing garden in Windsor, very tasteful, classy – and he came out and said, 'It's a great honour that you've come.'"
But when life is getting a bit too extraordinary, it's the TV star's family that keeps him grounded. He has shared how his wife Alison is "the most un-materialistic person" he knows and he claims the secret to his long-term relationship is being "thoughtful".
"Romance is about being thoughtful," he said in a previous interview. "I have made Alison tea for more than 45 years – but mind you, she's ironed my shirts every week for years, which is the greater gift."
He also enjoys the simple pleasures of spending time with his grandchildren - playing with them in the garden or sitting down together to tuck into a Sunday roast.
Away from all this, Alan has previously shared his health struggles, admitting that all his years of gardening have also had an impact on his body, leaving him with "blackened fingernails, lacerated arms, and legs from confrontations with well-armed rose bushes, stabbing pains in the back from carrying paving slabs and large posts."
And in 2020 he also revealed that he takes pills to lower his cholesterol levels in order to ward off his family history of heart disease.
He has been open about how his father and other male relatives have died of heart disease, saying: "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 heart disease at a relatively young age. My dad, for instance, died suddenly in 1986 from a heart attack, aged just 62.
"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."
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