Alan Titchmarsh's 'guilty pleasure' that forced him into massive change at home
Alan Titchmarsh has revealed the one 'guilty pleasure' that forced him to make a massive change at his family home, and it's something that not many people would expect
Alan Titchmarsh has given fans a glimpse into his "guilty pleasure", revealing a hobby that prompted a major addition to his home due to his immense passion.
The esteemed presenter of Love Your Weekend, 76, recently spoke about one of his more unpublicised interests. Best known for his gardening expertise, Alan has a profound love for immersing himself in the depths of literature, so much so that he maintains not one but two personal libraries.
Possessing an impressive trove of approximately 6,000 books compels Alan to have constructed an extension at his residence, dedicated to accommodating his monumental assemblage.
Within his treasure of texts are valuably bound first editions spanning genres like classics, architecture, art, furniture, and particularly interior design – a subject that seems to captivate his attention most significantly.
Sharing with Country Life magazine, the former anchor of Gardeners' World disclosed: "I love them - whether they're by Ben Pentreath or Veere Grenney, or those wonderful illustrated ones that Rizzoli do - because you can lose yourself in them and you can go and visit houses with excellent taste," reports Gloucestershire Live.
Alan confessed his soft spot for interior design literature, saying: "If you like designing gardens, you're interested in design - it doesn't stop at the doormat. I love interior-design books. They're my guilty pleasure."
Though Alan's collection is vast, he isn't alone in this literary abundance. Star Wars maestro, George Lucas, bears an even more extensive selection, numbering over 27,000 volumes, and the late Michael Jackson was known to own upwards of 10,000 books.
As reported by Lit Hub, esteemed author Ernest Hemingway is said to have had a collection of around 9,000 books, a figure that Alan's own collection reportedly matches. Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson also boasts an impressive library of approximately 6,000 volumes, including a vast array of cookbooks.
The website noted her fondness for classic literature, with Dickens' David Copperfield being a particular favourite.
In other news, the gardening expert recently challenged a widely held belief in UK gardening, dismissing it as "rubbish". Speaking to The Telegraph, he shared his insights on attracting wildlife to gardens.
Alan advised against excessive use of pesticides and chemicals, instead promoting the use of organic fertilisers such as blood, bone or fishmeal. He emphasised the importance of variety in gardens, recommending "single flowers, pollen and nectar".
However, he also cautioned against adhering too strictly to one piece of advice, stating: "Don't feel you just have to have British native plants – that's rubbish!" He encouraged gardeners to cultivate plants from "all over the world", noting that due to global warming and climate change, people need to "future-proof" their gardens, but they won't "be able to pivot" when it comes to planting.