As a long-serving broadcaster for the BBC and beyond, Alan Titchmarsh has become one of the most recognisable names in television. The gardener and presenter has been a familiar and friendly face for decades, offering advice, expertise and entertainment on gardening programmes such as Love Your Garden and Love Your Weekend. Away from a busy broadcasting career, Alan, 75, enjoys a quiet life with his wife of almost 50 years, Alison, along with their grown-up daughters and their grandchildren. Here's all you need to know about Alan's family and personal life…
Alan Titchmarsh's wife
Alan has been happily married to his wife Alison since 1975. The couple met when they were in their early twenties at an amateur dramatics group and struck up a romance that is still going strong five decades later. Alan has often described Alison, who worked as a doctor but is retired now, as his "best friend", and these days they split their time between their Grade-II listed Georgian farmhouse in Hampshire and their holiday home near Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
It seems that, for Alan and Alison, love blossomed quickly when they met and Alan has even shared his secret to a long and happy marriage. He explained in a previous interview: "Romance is about being thoughtful. I have made Alison tea for 45 years – but mind you, she's ironed my shirts every week for 44 years, which is the greater gift […] I'm a lucky man because she's the most unmaterialistic person I know."
The couple aren't often seen together on social media, but they have been photographed in the past attending events together. The broadcaster mostly shares stunning photos of his garden at home in Hampshire with his wife, including this snap from last September when they enjoyed the last of the late-summer sunshine. "Summer at last! An unexpected treat for afternoon tea!" Alan captioned the image, which showed off his sprawling garden full of beautiful flower bushes, trees and shrubbery, as well as a patio perfect for al fresco dining.
© Getty ImagesAlan's children and grandchildren
Alan and Alison are parents of two daughters. Their eldest, Polly, was born in 1980, followed by Camilla, who was born in 1982. Now 45 and 43 respectively, Polly and Camilla have gone on to have their own families, making Alan a grandfather too. Speaking to The Mirror in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic, the TV personality revealed that both his daughters live locally, but he was unable to see them - or his adoring grandchildren - for several months due to lockdown restrictions.
"I'm very lucky, one's got two little boys, aged eight and six, and one's got two little girls, aged seven and five," he said. "Catching up with the children and grandchildren is what I am so desperate to do. We're looking at one another on screen and it's not the same as a cuddle, is it? I miss giving my grandchildren a big hug."
© Chown/WPA Pool/ShutterstockIt's clear that family is of the utmost importance to him. Despite having a busy schedule, he makes sure to spend time with his relatives. Alan previously told Yours magazine: "I still work a lot, but I also turn loads of stuff down. I try to pace myself, and spending time with the family – my wife Alison, our two daughters, their husbands and our four grandchildren – is very, very important."
Being away from his children during their youth was very difficult for the star. Appearing on James O'Brien's Full Disclosure podcast in 2023, he confessed: "I would go away on a Sunday evening and come back later in the weekend. I do remember the heartbreaking thing of kissing one of them goodnight and them saying, 'Will you be here in the morning?' I knew I wouldn't, and that was hard, of course. I did say, I mean every weekend, it's not as if I'm in the army going away for three months or a year or whatever, so that was my excuse."
