Alan Titchmarsh admits 'I owe everything to it' as he reaches milestone

Broadcasteis toasting to his 76th birthday today (May 2), and he's taken a moment to reflect on what truly brings him joy in life.

While the nation knows him as a beloved television presenter and green-fingered expert, at his core, Alan is all about family. He's been married to his wife Alison since 1975, and together they've raised two daughters, Polly and Camilla, and dote on their four grandchildren.

In a conversation with Reach PLC, he expressed his down-to-earth perspective: "I owe everything to good luck and a following wind!

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"I love my work, I love being outdoors in my garden, I have a hugely supportive family. I enjoy my food and drink - in moderation of course - and above all I laugh a lot. It's worked for me."

Alan has become a household name through programmes like Ground Force, Gardeners' World, and Love Your Weekend, even catching the eye of celebs such as .

As he celebrates another milestone, the proud Yorkshireman isn't slowing down. He's reaching out to fans with his new venture, Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh, broadcasting from his own Hampshire garden.

Despite his fame and success on the small screen, it's the simple pleasures that Alan cherishes the most, as he revealed in a recent interview with .

He expressed: "Awards and work achievements aside, I'm actually most proud of raising a happy family with two children who are still talking to me and with whom I'm very close. We always sat at a table for dinner and (this being the pre-mobile era) just talked, anything to keep the conversation going.

"We weren't immune to the odd door slam, like every parent, but I'm just so grateful for them. Now they're in their 40s, with their own families, I admire everything they've achieved."

Alan is set to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary with his partner in July, yet his love life could have taken a different turn.

He once admitted that he had an initial interest in a woman who ended up marrying one of his mates, only to be turned down by her. Discussing how he eventually fell for Alison, he shared on the Rosebud podcast: "I pursued her.

"But we got on very well, we were always very comfortable. We had a couple of friends who were together in the operatic as well.

"In fact I asked my friend Steve's now wife – they've just celebrated their golden wedding – I asked her out first, on Thursday. She said, 'Oh I can't do tonight, it's the night I wash my hair.'".

He continued: "Anyway, we all used to go out together in a group. Alison was sort of there, we sort of got on, I thought she was really rather special."

Before becoming a mainstay on Gardener's World in 1996, Alan first graced television screens as a horticulture expert on the BBC's Nationwide.