Alan Titchmarsh has admitted he is “in denial” about his health and shared his concerns for the future. The former Gardeners’ World host, 77, announced earlier this month that he and his wife Alison have sold their £3.5 million Grade II listed Hampshire home with its four and a half acre garden and are downsizing to a single-storey bungalow in Surrey.
Titchmarsh initially listed his house - which he moved into in 2002 - for £3.95 million before reducing it to £3.5 million. His new property cost £2.6 million. The Love Your Weekend presenter explained that he knew he couldn’t continue to look after the huge garden on his own when he gets older.
Health denial and future plans
“There is no doubt that I am in denial. I think of myself as 40-something. Ha! While I might be hale and hearty at the moment, I cannot count on such good fortune indefinitely,” he wrote in his Gardeners’ World column. “It's time to leave while I have the choice, rather than being forced out by circumstances outside my control.”
Titchmarsh - who was made a CBE for services to horticulture and to charity - went on to share his excitement over his new garden, which is significantly smaller at an acre and a half.
Reflections on aging and mortality
The presenter, who currently hosts Love Your Garden on ITV, previously said he is aware of how lucky he is to have surpassed the age his father was when he died. “I'm very lucky; nothing has been replaced. People keep saying, 'You've got new knees'. I haven't; they're the ones I originally had,” he told The Times. “You don't know what's round the corner. My dad died of a heart attack at 62. It makes you aware that every day is a bonus, really. I've lived 15 years longer than my dad did.”
He added that he and his wife’s plan to take Mondays and Fridays off “is not really working”. He has no desire to retire because he does a job that people retire to spend more time doing.
Past health struggles
The TV star has battled several health issues in recent years. He had surgery on his knee in 2018 after sustaining damage from decades of bending down while working in the garden. Titchmarsh had to have damaged tissue and cartilage removed during the operation. Speaking to The Mirror at the time, he said: “I had it all cleared out and they feel so much better. I've got bad knees as a result of a lot of kneeing over the years from gardening, and it has got a bit frayed in there, but I am a spring chicken again now.”
Titchmarsh faced further health woes when he broke his ankle during lockdown. He said he had managed to stay active by doing 26,000 steps a day and maintaining his garden, until he slipped on wet grass. “I broke my ankle at the beginning of September,” he told the Radio Times. “I slipped on wet grass and was on crutches for six weeks.” Following his accident, Alan said he was “very cross” that the weight he had initially lost piled back on. “It was very frustrating because you can't even carry a cup of tea,” he added. “I found having to rely on somebody else doing absolutely everything for me really hard. I'm not a terribly good patient; I don't do ill.”
