Alan Titchmarsh quits chat show duties: 'I owe my daughters to be around a bit longer'

Alan Titchmarsh has revealed he's quitting his chat show because he doesn't want to overdo it and die young.

The TV gardener, 64, recently announced he is saying goodbye to the ITV daytime series after seven years.

The Mirror quoted Alan saying he wanted to slow down a bit so that he can enjoy time with his family, although he will never retire completely.

"My dad died at 62 and I've outlived him. I just thought, 'Pace yourself Sunshine, don't go at it like a bull at a gate'," he said.

"I'll never stop completely because I'd be bored rigid. But I think I should just ease up as I'd like to be around to see my grandchildren for quite a while."

He continued: "This is my eighth year and 15th series of the chat show. If you stay doing the same you get stale and the viewers get weary and I'd rather move on. I didn't expect to be working this hard at this age. TV is a young person's game."

Alan also revealed that his family would like him to take it easy as he approaches 65.

"My daughters have told me for the last 15 years, 'If you stop now you have done more than most people have done in a lifetime'. When your children start lecturing you, it is as well you listen," he said. "And I thought, yeah I owe them to be around a bit longer.

"My wife, Alison, just wants me to be happy, but I know she worries about my work rate."

While The Alan Titchmarsh Show is due to end this year, the star will still front Love Your Garden and is expected to present Britain's Best Garden for ITV.

 

Press Association

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.