I kept sane through lockdown by being CREATIVE

Alan Titchmarsh tells Woman’s Weekly how he hates being bored and is still grateful for his career

- HAYLEY MINN

Alan Titchmarsh is certainly a man of many talents; he brought gardening to the masses on Ground Force, he presents on Classic FM every weekend, plus various other TV shows including Love Your Weekend, and he’s currently writing his 12th novel.

And the busy 71-year-old doesn’t take his varied career for granted.

‘I’ve been so lucky,’ he muses. ‘I’ve flown a Spitfire, I’ve had my own chat show, I’ve presented Last Night at the Proms, it’s ridiculous really.’

Tellingly, when mulling over what his favourite part of his job is, Alan laughs, ‘That’s like asking, “Who’s your favourite child?”’

‘They complement one another,’ he continues. ‘I love the solitude of writing, I never feel lonely when I write, just solitude, and then I love the sociability of television. And the fact that I’m allowed to do both is a great delight because when I’ve had a couple of days here writing on my own, I’m ready to go out and have a natter. Then, whenever I’ve had two or three days in company, I think, “I’ll just go and sit quietly right now”.