Alan Titchmarsh

Alan Fred Titchmarsh HonFSE (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener and broadcaster.

After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he became a writer, and a radio and television presenter.

Alan Fred Titchmarsh was born on 2 May 1949 in Ilkley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

He is the son of Bessie (née Hardisty), a textile mill worker, and Alan Fred Titchmarsh senior, a plumber.

In 1964, after leaving school at 15, with one O-level in Art, Titchmarsh went to work as an apprentice gardener with Ilkley Council, before leaving in 1968, at 18, for Shipley Art and Technology Institute in Shipley in the West Riding of Yorkshire to study for a City and Guilds in horticulture.

Titchmarsh went on to study at Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture for the National Certificate in Horticulture, before finally moving to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to study for a Diploma in Horticulture.

After graduating he stayed on at Kew, employed as a supervisor and later as a staff trainer.

He left to pursue a career in gardening journalism in 1974.

Interested in English literature and writing, he applied for a post with the publisher Hamlyn Publishing, as assistant editor of gardening books.

He then started to write his own gardening books, with the first published in 1976.

This led to his presenting of the Chelsea Flower Show for BBC television in 1983.

1988 Titchmarsh hosted the gardening show with House in a Garden on BBC Radio 2.

Titchmarsh's first television appearances were on the BBC television show Nationwide as a horticulture expert.

In 1991 Titchmarsh hosted the BBC television talk show Pebble Mill, which he did until its cancellation in 1996.

In 1991 he presented a six part series in which he followed in the footsteps of the pilgrims, travelling around Britain and Ireland.

In 1996 Titchmarsh took over as host of Gardeners' World, the show being filmed in his own garden.

In 1997 he hosted the BBC One television series, Ground Force, in which he and fellow presenters Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh would perform a makeover on a garden.

After Gardeners' World Titchmarsh has presented two series of How To Be A Gardener.

Away from gardening, Titchmarsh has had spells presenting Songs of Praise and a series of programmes on BBC Radio 2 in which he played a selection of light classical music, as well as a BBC nature documentary series, British Isles - A Natural History.

Titchmarsh has appeared in adverts, including working for the Yorkshire Tourist Board (now Welcome To Yorkshire).

He voiced the title character in Gordon the Garden Gnome, a cartoon series for the CBeebies channel.

He hosted the 20th Century Roadshow, a 2005 special edition of the Antiques Roadshow; performing in the 2006 Children's Party at the Palace for the Queen's 80th birthday; and guest hosting an episode of The Paul O'Grady Show.

In 2006 Titchmarsh was given a permanent slot on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday evenings with the show Melodies for you.

In 2007 Titchmarsh hosted a follow-up series to British Isles – A Natural History entitled The Nature of Britain focusing on British plant and animal species.

In 2007 Titchmarsh hosted The Great British Village Show.

He also presented the afternoon ITV chat show The Alan Titchmarsh Show (2007-2014).

In 2010 Titchmarsh presented the first series of Popstar to Operastar with Myleene Klass.

Since 2011, he has presented gardening show Love Your Garden.

In August 2011, Titchmarsh left Radio 2.

In June 2012 he presented Elizabeth: Queen, Wife, Mother on ITV.

Since January 2012, he has hosted a Saturday morning show on Classic FM.

Titchmarsh hosted this every year until 2013.

He also appeared on other BBC shows, such as Breakfast Time and Open Air as either a guest presenter or as a gardening expert.

In 2013, Titchmarsh, then aged 64, responded to complaints that older women were discriminated against on television by stating he would like to hear less "whingeing".

"They don't complain in their early days when they are disporting themselves on sports cars", he stated in an interview with The Observer.

This drew criticism from media figures who had been protesting against the difficulties faced by older women in the media, including from Miriam O'Reilly, winner of an age discrimination case against the BBC.

In 2013 Titchmarsh was a reporter on BBC Two programme The Great British Winter.

In 2014 Titchmarsh presented The Queen's Garden, a two-part series for ITV, that was filmed over one year.

In 2015 Titchmarsh presented Britain's Best Back Gardens.

In February 2016, Titchmarsh began presenting the daytime game show Masterpiece for ITV.