Star Alan Titchmarsh credits mother-in-law's support for TV career

Alan Titchmarsh paid tribute to her mother-in-law for launching his TV career and how he initially thought Ground Force won't work on TV.

The 75-year-old gardening expert joined James Martin's Saturday Morning on ITV 1 and highlighted the invaluable role his mother-in-law played in launching his storied TV and radio career.

The green-fingered icon was there alongside award-winning composer Debbie Wiseman, as well as culinary stars Nick Nairn and Dipna and Gulu Anand on Saturday morning (November 23).

While whipping up a dish in the kitchen with presenter James Martin, Alan shared the origins of his journey into broadcasting and how his late mother-in-law supported him going for a freelance career.

Recalling his decision to leave a stable job, Alan recounted: "I was working there (BBC) for gardening magazines, so they called me and said about the Green Fly and whatnot.

"I then went freelance so I went on my own - I decided I didn't want to be stuck in a London office all my life. I'm a gardener and I wanted be out in the countryside.

"We lived in Hampshire and I just went out on the own. The only person encouraged me to go freelance is my mother in law, bless her, because I said to Alison, you know, this is it, we won't be earning what I'm earning now."

Despite the risks, Alan reflected on his successful career on television, radio, and writing, which paid off. He shared: "In fact, I did all right with television, radio and writing and manage to earn a living."

Titchmarsh became a household name through programmes such as Gardeners' World, Ground Force, Alan Titchmarsh Show, and Love Your Garden.

James Martin steered the chat towards his smash hit Ground Force, which was a massive draw for BBC One, pulling in millions of viewers each week. The show saw Alan Titchmarsh and his team, including Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh, revolutionise gardening for Brits from 1997 to 2002.

Yet, Alan wasn't entirely sold on the idea that any group of gardeners could work miracles in just two days. He remarked: "I wanted to make it accessible.

"But you've got to remember, I mean, that was 15 years after I started doing television. I started doing Gardeners' World in 1996 and then Ground Force came along in 1997 so that's nearly 20 years since I started broadcasting.

"So there was a long learning curve before you get told off for instant gardening."

When James cut in: "It's the same thing as a chef, you could never create dishes in 20 minutes. Now we're doing it in six (minutes). It's the same thing."

Alan countered: "My argument was you could, because I said this to the producer, when they said 'We want you to do a garden makeup', I said, 'it can't be done - it takes years make a garden'.

"They said, 'Well, what if you had two days? (I said) that's ridiculous. They said, 'so you couldn't do anything in two days?'".

It was at this juncture that Alan Titchmarsh realised 'Ground Force' could actually become a reality.

He explained: "So we did what we did and the people who inherited those gardens, it's the same with Love Your Garden, which I've been doing on ITV, you gift people with a garden and it changes lives enormously and also they get something that they want to look after."

The gardener and TV personality has also teamed up with famed composer Debbie Wiseman to create a charming new Christmas album called Jack Frost - A Winter Story.