Alan Titchmarash on the moment he thought he was about to die

It was the moment Alan Titchmarsh admits he felt “very frightened”.

“I hoped I wasn’t going to die, and I was hanging on in there but the pain was so acute at one point I thought it might be a blessed relief,” he says.

The TV gardener was talking frankly for the first time about the dramatic day in April when he had to be airlifted to hospital and underwent surgery.

With a family history of heart disease - his father died in 1986 from a heart attack at 62 - there was obvious concern for the 67-year-old when he started suffering pains in his chest.

“The pain lasted and was absolute agony and every bit as agonising as a heart attack,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what was wrong and although I didn’t think it was a heart attack, because the pain wasn’t going down my arm, it was frightening. Actually I think it frightened my wife more, because of my family history, of course. The men in my family have a tendency to die from heart disease at a relatively young age.”

After his wife, Alison, called the emergency services, Titchmarsh was taken to the nearest hospital to his Isle of Wight home, St Mary’s and then airlifted to Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital, where he was diagnosed with gallstones and had surgery to remove his gall bladder.

Yorkshire-born Titchmarsh, has clearly recovered his equilibrium and would rather focus on his latest novel, Mr Gandy’s Grand Tour.

The book’s hero isn’t dissimilar to the author - a middle-aged man who enjoys painting, travelling and boats, and finds himself a magnet for attractive women.

Titchmarsh is modest about his own legion of female fans. “I never see myself as having some sort of attraction to the opposite sex. I don’t really think about the secret of my appeal. At the end of the day, all you can do is be yourself and be genuine.

“Alison and I have been married 41 years, she’s my best friend, and family life - our two daughters, sons-in-law and four grandchildren - are at the heart of everything. I hope I’m romantic, but I think being considerate is just as important as gestures on occasions. Marriage is about thinking about the other person and enjoying one another’s company.”

Although he’s been urged by his family to “take life easier,” he confesses it’s difficult because, “I don’t want to retire as I think you need a sense of purpose and a reason to get up in the morning. So I’ll always be a gardener, I couldn’t do without that - it’s part of me. I love the writing which is solitary and then I have a balance of the fun and socialising of the TV work. So far, it’s a perfect mix.”

Mr Gandy’s Grand Tour by Alan Titchmarsh, Hodder & Stoughton, £18.99.