Alan Titchmarsh's very personal insight into change in marriage as fans 'disappointed'

ITV Love Your Weekend presenter and gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh has been married to his wife Alison for almost 50 years - but he's rarely spoken about their relationship

Alan Titchmarsh has given fans a glimpse into his long-standing marriage with wife Alison, revealing how their bond has evolved over time. Alan's confession was prompted by feedback from readers about the lack of racy content in his 2022 novel, The Gift.

The ITV Love Your Weekend star, who doubles as a best-selling author, was once known for peppering his novels with sizzling romantic encounters. But when he sat down for a live Q&A with The Telegraph, interviewer Bunny Guinness couldn't help but ask why his latest literary work seemed to dial down the heat.

In the 2022 conversation that recently came to light, Bunny Guinness asked Alan: "To start with, you did have a bit of sex in your books, dare we say. But have you almost been bullied out of the sex scenes?".

Alan then sheepishly confessed the awkward reality of recording audiobooks: "There's one thing, Bunny, that happens to you when you write a novel is that, in my case, you do the audiobook as well and when it comes to the audiobook, it's you in a little tiny booth with a big microphone and a pair of earphones.

"And it's quite dark, and there's a big sheet of glass, and on the other side of that is a sound recordist, and he's generally male, he's generally large, and he's generally bearded... it does put you off a bit."

Alan disagreed with the notion that he avoided more risqué plot lines in The Gift, highlighting a sensual moment in the book: "I still write... there's a sensuous..."

Bunny then interjected: "Well, a bit of breast fondling and then it's straight out looking at the sheep!".

"Well, that's life, isn't it?" Alan chuckled in response. Bunny confessed: "I was disappointed, I was hoping we were going to have some squidgy bits... I think you've got very cautious."

Alan responded: "I'm sorry I short-changed you, they've all gone in droves now - they're not going to read it because it's not saucy enough!

"I don't fight shy of showing when two people are physically attracted to one another, and I think too many authors do, but people are frightened - they'll do horror, they'll do murder and ghastly things, but they're dead scared of doing [love scenes] unless it's Jackie Collins."

Bunny then mentioned that Alan was once a runner-up in the infamous Literary Review Bad Sex Award, telling him: "After that, people are disappointed that they haven't had so much sex Alan, I'm afraid, a lot of people say that!".

Joking about the change in his writing, Alan suggested that "art is mirroring life", possibly referring to a decrease in intimacy in his own marriage with wife Alison.

He laughed: "Maybe it's as I get older and art is mirroring life!" Alan and Alison have been happily married for nearly half a century, with two adult daughters and four grandchildren to their name.

Despite being in the public eye, they prefer to keep their family life out of the spotlight. Speaking on James O'Brien's Full Disclosure podcast, Alan said last year: "My family is private. I was talking to somebody in broadcasting the other day and he said, 'we don't know anything about your family except you've got a wife and two daughters and we know their names'.

"I said, 'yeah, but that's enough isn't it really? ' They have their lives. They are not my props."