‘I can’t wait to be back on TV’
Charlie Dimmock, 49 – the nation’s favourite gardening pin-up of the nineties – makes a return with a new makeover show
It’s 11 years since Ground Force was axed and now you’re back with new makeover show Garden Rescue. How are you feeling? I cannot wait for it to start! I’m not nervous at all, and there hasn’t been any big pressure around it – I’ve enjoyed it all. What’s it about? I’m working with [Chelsea Flower Show Gold winners] the Rich brothers – aka the most fashionable thing in horticulture right now. We get a brief – say, rehauling a tiny garden – and after the best design is picked, we have two days to make it happen. How has filming gone? It’s been fun. The thing that makes it the most difficult is the budget. The homeowners are paying for the materials themselves, so it can be anything from £1,000-£8,000 – it does make you stop and think. What’s been your favourite makeover? For me, it’s more about the journey they go on. It’s not like
Ground Force,
which was big on visuals – we give lots of tips and plant the seeds ready for things to develop over the seasons. What’s your on-screen chemistry like with the two brothers [Harry and David]? We get on great. Although they do bicker and sometimes I have to step in and go: “Calm down, boys!” They’ve won gold medals and are proper architects; I’m just a gardener who can scribble a design. They make me feel really old, though – I make jokes and they don’t understand them! You’ll be 50 this year. Have you found it tougher filming this time around? It’s been a bit of a slog, but I’ve enjoyed it all – it’s certainly kept me on my toes. Things have changed since the Ground Force days, though, and I did go into it with rose-tinted glasses a bit. You forget how frustrating it can be sometimes when we have to keep re-shooting something. Ground Force ended in 2005 – do you still keep in touch with the old gang [Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh]? Yes, absolutely. In fact, Tommy rang me up the other week to tell me that the show was being repeated on TV from the start, which was back in 1997. I was like, “OMG!” The Rich Brothers told me they watched it – but I think they were about five at the time! so, does this herald your big return to TV? Ooh, let’s see how this series goes first!