Gardeners' World star Frances Tophill has opened up about the terrifying screen test that almost put her off television for good, before she eventually launched her career alongside Alan Titchmarsh.
Speaking on The Plant Pod podcast, Frances explained how the opportunity first came about while she was studying at university in Edinburgh. A production company behind Love Your Garden had contacted horticultural colleges looking for people interested in joining the team.
Frances recalled how she and some friends initially thought it sounded like an appealing job, believing they would get to travel around and talk about gardening.
Screen test ordeal
But the reality of the selection process proved considerably more daunting than they had anticipated. She explained: "Anyway, so we all went down to London and did this screen test, which was the most horrific, terrifying thing. They just put a camera in front of us and each individually and said, 'Talk for one minute about why you love gardening.' Then we had to make a planter out of a palette or something, I think, all on camera."
The experience left Frances and her friend Fiona convinced that television was not for them. She said: "It was just completely alien, and me and my really good friend Fiona went, and we both went away saying, 'That was the most horrible thing I've ever done, and I never want to do it again.'"
Bizarre twist of fate
Despite her reservations, Frances was invited back for another round of auditions. A few months later, she received news that would change the course of her career. She continued: "But I got called back for another round, and then about two or three months later, I got a phone call saying I got the job, and it was so bizarre."
Frances was still completing her university work when she began travelling to filming locations, juggling her studies with her new television commitments.
One particular memory brought home just how dramatically her circumstances had changed. Recalling her 23rd birthday, she described spending the previous evening celebrating with friends at the pub before finding herself in a hotel with Alan Titchmarsh. She said: "Tonight, I'm sitting with the Alan Titchmarsh in a hotel. I think it was in Wales. It was like, this is so bizarre."
Alan's new chapter
Her recollections come as Alan embarks on a new chapter of his own, having left his long-time Hampshire home towards the end of last year to downsize to a single-storey property in Surrey with his wife, Alison. The couple decided to move closer to their adult daughters, despite their affection for their former Grade II-listed home.
Alan has since been writing about creating a new garden, using plants to commemorate people and friendships that have meant something to him throughout his life. In his BBC Gardeners' World Magazine column, he wrote: "Call me an old romantic if you like, but as the years go by, the plants in my garden that have happy memories attached to them – mainly by reason of their association – become more treasured. They act as a reminder of happy times and valued friendships."
Among those he has chosen to remember through his garden are his grandfather, author Beatrix Potter, Sybill Spencer, John Anderson and Tony Kirkham. He has also planted something in memory of fellow gardener Beth Chatto, who died aged 94 in 2018.
Frances will be returning to the UK's screens tonight when she appears on Gardeners' World at 8pm on BBC Two.
