Charlie Dimmock’s braless warning, Alan Titchmarsh cutting sex scenes from his book and saucing up flowers with cleavage shots – it’s all happened in the world of television gardening.
Bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘green fingered’, TV gardeners have had an unfair reputation over the years for being rather dry, which definitely isn’t the case.
The world of plants has truly never been this sexy, with TV star Monty Don even describing the idea of working with soil as a “deeply sensual experience”.
READ MORE:Gardeners' World Monty Don's co-star wife – traumatic birth to depression hell
To celebrate the era of the TV gardener, Daily Star has taken a look into the racier side of pruning, raking and really becoming one with the soil.
Charlie Dimmock’s braless warning
Charlie Dimmock was famous for opting to go without a bra during her time on Ground Force – but she received a dire warning from a telly legend about it.
Speaking to The Independent, Charlie explained that she ditched her bra for “comfort”, elaborating: “If you’re swinging a sledgehammer, you want to be comfortable!
“People say, ‘Why don’t you wear a sports bra?’ but those are not the comfiest things in the world.”
Esther Rantzen was the one to warn her against the lack of underwire, as Charlie explained: “The TV presenter Esther Rantzen said to me, ‘You’ll be labelled the braless one for the rest of your life’.
“Ground Force was a long time ago, and I have to say, even now, people will bring it up. It is very silly.”
Back in 1996, Charlie had another candid underwear confession for The Mirror, as she said: “ only wear underwear if I have to get undressed in front of someone. So no bra. And no knickers either.
“But if I do wear knickers, they’re sort of Marks and Sparks 12-14s, because I cannot abide tight knickers.
“I find thongs quite uncomfortable as well. So I’m better without knickers altogether.”
Alan Titchmarsh’s saucy scenes
Alan Titchmarsh is one of the most iconic TV gardeners, and a heartthrob in his own right.
But he was forced to prune back the sex in his 2018 novel The Scarlet Nightingale because he was simply too embarrassed to read them aloud.
The star explained to The Mirror: “My first book was a bit of a romp.
“But when you come to record the audiobook – that’s when you get your comeuppance.
“When you’ve got to sit in a room on your own, with a sheet of glass between you and a very large, bearded man twiddling knobs, and say the words.”
All this comes in spite of Alan’s natural magnetism, with his Madam Tussauds waxwork regularly needing extra cleaning from lipstick stains left behind by fans.
His love scene in the book was finally cut to just a single sentence, which saw his protagonists make “the gentlest of love”.
Monty Don's ‘sensuous’ tools
Monty Don has always been rather quiet about his sex life, but he let slip a sensual confession during an appearance on BBC Radio 4 last year.
Discussing the “heft” of various gardening tools with podcast hosts Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, the star explained: “I really like working with tools.”
Things only got raunchier from there, as he continued: “I really like hand tools, in the same way that a chef might have favourite knives or a photographer has a certain camera that just seems to be right for them.
“So this spade has a better heft then any other.
“It just feels right, the weight of it, the size of it. The way it sort of balances in my hand.”
When the hosts quizzed him on the link of sex and flowers, he answered: “There is no question, that working with the soil, working with plants is a deeply sensuous thing.
“And there are smells and textures and sounds, that is very physical and that’s good. And where sensuality becomes sexuality is up to every individual.
“But sensuality and embracing the senses and rejoicing in that, is something that we should all do. Absolutely.”
Ground Force affair
Charlie Dimmock made headlines back in 2000, when she began an affair with Ground Force microphone operator Andy Simmons.
The star had been in a relationship with viticulturist John Mushet for 13 years before the affair ended things between them – but she has since confirmed that she doesn’t regret a thing.
Charlie told Daily Mail: “I don't see Andy anymore, but I don't regret what happened.
"You wouldn't do anything if you kept worrying about what might go wrong."
She said she relied “heavily on family and close friends” after her split from John, adding: “I've discovered that the most difficult after-effect of the break-up is getting into another relationship.”
She and John met in New Zealand on a working holiday in the 1980s, when Charlie was just 21 years old.
John explained to the Daily Record in 2000: “For our first date we went on a harbour cruise and as we drove home I pulled the car over and had the urge to kiss her.
“When we first met, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. It was always sensual and loving, a wonderful sex life until her affair.”
Charlie has since said she’s “way past marriage” in a 2016 interview, and doesn’t even want to cohabit with someone because she enjoys her own company too much.
Kelly Brook's cleavage shots
Big Breakfast host Kelly Brook has rebranded herself as a garden goddess in recent years, and in 2017 explained that she quite fancied sexing up the gardening industry.
Kelly, who wanted to land a role alongside Monty Don, explained: “I love planting shrubs and my lady garden.
“If I undo a button on my boiler suit I might increase the viewers too.”
She added in 2017: “Gardening is now my full time hobby and it’s great exercise. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.”
Like what you see? Then fill your boots…
There's MUCH more where that came from! Want all the jaw-dropping stories from the world of showbiz and up to the minute news from TV and soaps?
Well, we've got you covered with our showbiz, TV and soaps newsletters – they'll drop straight into your inbox and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
We'll bring you the inside track from telly expert Ed Gleave and soap specialist Sasha Morris. Oh, and your daily fix of Piers, Katie Price, Demi Rose and all your other Daily Star favs.
You can sign up here – you won't regret it…
Kelly isn’t the only reality star with her sights set on a gardening programme, as TOWIE icon Gemma Collins has also expressed her desire to exhibit her green-fingered skills.
She said: “I desperately want a gardening show. I know you all love me for the reality, but actually youngsters need to know the power of gardening and how much it can bring to your life.
“I’ve been very busy in the garden and I can’t wait to get to the Chelsea Gardening Show.
"Who knows? I could have my own patch there one day with my own fabulous magical garden.”
READ MORE:
- Monty Don slams 'old-fashioned' Gardeners' World fans after comments about his wife
Esther Rantzen gardens topless after Charlie Dimmock 'braless one' advice
Inside BBC Charlie Dimmock's life – heartbreaking family loss to 'the braless one' label
Source: Read Full Article