Gardeners' World presenter Adam Frost has shared a poignant message about his wife Sulina's devastating health battle and the toll it took on their family. The 56-year-old BBC star revealed that Sulina contracted sepsis in 2021 and spent three months in hospital. Around the same time, their then-15-year-old daughter developed an eating disorder, and Frost himself suffered from COVID-19, burnout, and depression.
Downsizing and simplifying life
Reflecting on the difficult period, Frost told iNews: "When life isn’t dealing the cards that I want to play with, the garden is where I go. Five years ago, the wheels came off as Mrs Frost and one of the kids became poorly. We had this huge house with a big outdoor space that I was totally disengaged with, so we moved and simplified life." The family downsized in 2022 to a smaller home in Lincolnshire.
Healing through gardening
Frost explained that creating a new garden with his wife helped them heal. "Reconnecting with a smaller garden was incredibly cathartic. I watched my wife get better as we created it together," he said. "My biggest problem at the moment is that I don’t want to be anywhere other than my garden." The couple, who met in the 1990s while Sulina was a manager at John Lewis, have four children: Abi-Jade, Jacob, Amber-Lily, and Oakley.
A difficult time for the family
During an appearance on Lorraine in 2023, Frost recalled the challenges. "My [tough time in the pandemic] was borne from Mrs Frost ending up in hospital," he said. "Bless her she was in there for 11-12 weeks and I could go in there for an hour a day. And then going home and telling four kids everything was fine." He added that their daughter developed an eating disorder partly due to the stress. "But we slowly got through that. Then 10 days later I got locked in a room with Covid and sat in front of a head doctor telling me, ‘You’ve got burn out and depression.’ And I’m going, ‘Really? I only went in the room with Covid.'"
Moving forward
The gardening expert said they got back on track at their new house with its smaller garden, and Sulina made a full recovery. The family moved again in October 2025 to a different location with three of their children. Frost, who lives with fibromyalgia, said of the condition: "The reality is, I'm 20 years on so yeah I've got it, but I deal with it. I manage it through fitness really to be honest, and trying to find a little balance of life, which is not always that easy, but yeah, [I'm] good."
A rare compliment
Earlier this month, Frost joked that Sulina is a tough critic but approved of his new podcast, Outsiding, co-hosted with author Caitlin Moran. On BBC Radio 2, Frost said: "I've not watched it, but my daughter has watched it three times and even my wife has watched it." Moran noted that his wife praised him, which Frost said was rare: "Very rare. Last night we got in bed and she said, 'I'm proud of you'." When host Ryan O'Leary remarked that was wonderful, Frost joked: "25 or 26 years together mate, that's probably the third time. It was like, 'Woah, I feel slightly uncomfortable now', what have I done? But yeah, no [it's] magical."
