Frances Tophill, one of the stars of BBC's Gardeners' World, has revealed that fans get one thing wrong about her career: it is not as glamorous as people imagine.
Tophill, 36, made her Gardeners' World debut in 2016 and has appeared on the show for over a decade. In recent years, she has spoken about life away from the camera and the realities of filming, including its impact on her ability to garden.
Keeping a gardening job to stay grounded
Speaking on The Plant Pod podcast, Tophill explained why she has decided to keep a gardening job alongside her television work. She said: "I've always tried to keep a gardening job just to feel grounded, but it does get harder and harder to do that."
She added: "And you have to be really, really, kind of stick your neck out and be a bit stubborn with TV people about it and say, 'I really can't come. I'm gardening that day.'"
Reality of pay and time
Tophill noted that gardening is not a particularly well paid job, and while jobbing gardening for other people pays less per day than TV presenting, it offers more regular days. She said that this year, including Chelsea and Hampton Court, she has probably done about 15 days of TV presenting, with travel on either side taking up more time.
She explained: "So actually doing gardening jobs is really important for the winter, just to keep working. So it's an interesting lifestyle, but I don't think it's quite as glamorous as people imagine it is."
Reflecting on her career choice
In the same interview, Tophill said that if she were to live her life again, she might not make the same decision to commit to a public career in television. She said: "And I don't even know if I made the right call. You know there's a part of me that thinks it would have been lovely just to be a gardener."
She added: "And now you sort of get used to this slightly busy lifestyle and you think, 'Well, could I cope with that now? Could I cope with not being freelance, not being my own boss?'"
Tophill also offered advice to those considering a career in gardening: "If people are going into gardening, I would say if they love gardening, they should just stick with gardening. It's a funny thing...I know lots of people want to go, you know, you think it's this amazing job and it is."
