Adam Frost

The Gardeners’ World presenter and seven times Chelsea Gold medallist on working with Geoff Hamilton, laver and bacon sandwiches and why he won’t be giving up coaching junior goalkeepers

- Jodie Jones

Champagne problems. That’s what I’ve got,” says Adam Frost. The Gardeners’ World presenter, RHS Ambassador and Chelsea Gold medal-winning designer has a lot on his plate. It adds a little extra sparkle to the situation that his problems are, in the very best sense, of his own making.

Growing up in north London, home life wasn’t always easy for young Adam, and he spent a lot of time with his grandparents. “There was Tidy Nan, with a greenhouse that smelt of tomatoes, Scruffy Nan – who worked in the City and had a garden full of Belfast sinks and cats – and Granddad, who was an engineer and had the best shed in the world.”

When he wasn’t with his grandparents Adam was playing football, and showed such talent in goal that there was a real chance he would turn professional. Instead, when he was 15, his father uprooted him and moved to rural north Devon.

“It did knock me sideways a bit,” headmits. In quick succession, he left school, rented a room and signed up as an apprentice with the North Devon Parks Department. “I think the old boys were sorry for me. There was George, the foreman, who taught me a lot, and Jim who introduced me to the joy of laver and bacon sandwiches, and gave me a couple of canaries that I kept at the end of my bed. The first time I appeared on Gardeners’ World, George emailed to say how proud he was.”