Alan Titchmarsh admits 'stresses and strains' of life get to him in rare personal update

Alan Titchmarsh has confessed that the "stresses and strains" of life significantly impact him.

The beloved Love Your Weekend host graced This Morning with his presence, engaging in conversation with Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary about the upcoming series of his show, set to premiere this weekend.

In an uncommonly personal revelation, Alan shared insights into his private life and the weight of social media on his shoulders. He praised his programme as a "real luxury" while also disclosing his limited use of social media to avoid fretting over potential public commentary.

During his appearance on This Morning, he remarked: "Watch Love Your Weekend and let all the stress go away! It's a real luxury. And from my point of view, I do a little bit of Instagram, which is just plants, flowers and a little bit of gardening.

"I'm not on Twitter, I'm not on Facebook, I don't look at it because I have enough to cope. I'm not denying real life, I'm choosing a part of life I can cope with. And like everyone else, stresses and strains come from own family and friends, I worry about them; I try not to worry about what people say about me because what's the point."

In a further candid moment, Alan disclosed that his initial career aspirations did not include television presenting, yet he relishes the opportunity to share his love for gardening.

"I started life as an apprentice gardener at 15 and I've always been interested in sharing a passion. I've always liked words. I enjoy people's company, whoever they are - if they've got conversation - and I'm not wild about Hollywood stars who tend to be quite difficult. I'd much rather talk to people we talk to on the programme who just have a great story," he expressed.

"I enjoy company and enjoy listening as well as talking. On a show like this, all I do is drone on. It's much nicer asking the questions."

In a previous chat, Alan revealed the challenges of being away from his family.

Reflecting on his early career in 2023, he shared: "It's not something I wanted but it was at a time in my career where I knew it had to be done. The girls would be sort of 10,11 that kind of age."

"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."

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10am