Alan Titchmarsh opens up on tragic family event and says 'it's very odd'

Horticulture expert, Alan Titchmarsh has issued a heartbreaking update on his family life, revealing that he felt "very odd" about one thing.

Looking back to his earlier days, the former Gardeners' World presenter made a heartfelt admission about his life growing up in Yorkshire as he spoke to Gyles Brandreth on his 'Rosebud' podcast.

After his dad passed away aged 62, Alan revealed the unusual feeling of living longer than his father: "It's very odd being older than your father ever was."

Now 75, Alan continued: "The lovely thing was, from my point of view, they saw me get on before they died and I don't know, there's that moment, a lot of you will have experienced it, when your parents are both gone, you suddenly get the feeling that there's nobody left to impress.

"There's nobody left to make proud of you and I was lucky enough that both my mum particularly, who died in 2002 saw me getting on and my dad who died in 1986 saw me get on as well."

As he looked back on his earlier years, after he'd moved to London, Alan recalled a touching anecdote as he reminisced about his dad: "We were walking down the street once, not long before he died and somebody shouted 'ey up Alan' to my father 'your lad hasn't done badly has he?' and my dad shouted across 'Aye, considering he's not but a lad'.

In fact, the heartfelt memory was something that he took with him throughout his life, as he said that he even named one of his memoirs after it: "And I've written three volumes of memoirs and the one that's about childhood is called Not But A Lad."

Alan has received high acclaim for his dedication to roles in TV and the world of horticulture down the years after receiving an MBE in 2000. But, he is probably most well-known for his six years spent on Gardeners' World, before he was replaced by Monty Don.