Charlie Dimmock hints at Ground Force comeback to celebrate show’s 20th anniversary
Charlie shot to fame alongside Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh on the BBC gardening show
CHARLIE Dimmock has revealed Ground Force could be making a comeback to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The BBC gardening show was one of the biggest shows in its heyday attracting millions of viewers who tuned in for Charlie and her co-presenters, gardener Alan Titchmarsh and builder Tommy Walsh.
"I have heard whisperings," Charlie exclusively told The Sun Online as she launched The Ricola herb garden in London.
However, the water feature specialist added that she fears she's too old to put the amount of work into bringing Ground Force back with the physicality of the job.
"We're too old. I know Tommy says, 'Oh yeah we could do it again'," she said.
Charlie was 31 when she shot to fame on the show, most famously for going bra-less and becoming a gardening sex symbol.
But watching herself back isn't for Charlie, she said adding: "Oh my goodness how to make myself feel really old. When you see yourself at 31 great. Blimey."
Nor did she miss the level of fame she achieved through the show.
"I didn't really miss it. I was doing other things. We had quite a long run on Ground Force. We did it for eight, nine years so it was enough."
MOST READ IN TV & SHOWBIZ
Charlie made her return to television last year in new show Garden rescue which pits her against young gardeners the Rich Brothers in giving garden makeovers to families across the country.
The show, which airs weekdays on BBC One, has become a new hit with viewers loving having Charlie back on screens but it taxes Charlie's skills in a way Ground Force didn't.
"If the budget's tight you have to come up with a few clever ideas," she revealed.
"Making lots of things out of pallets. Stuff goes into the skip and quickly comes back out again."
Charlie also revealed how it was an attempt to reunite with former co-star Alan that led to her new show.
"I did a pilot with Alan about two years back and then [the production company] came to me and said we've got these two new chaps."
But while she is relishing being back on television doing what she does best, she's remembering how annoying she found filming television the first time.
"I have to say doing the first series, I forgot how irritating it can be doing TV," she said.
"You've got rose tinted glasses so you forget about horizontal rain and snow and the directors going, 'Oh you've got to have some more colour in the garden, we want to use these plants and you don't because they don't work with the scheme."
However, Charlie does admit there's a major downside to filming the show for such a long time - her own garden suffers.
"My own garden's a tip at the moment," she confessed, laughing.
Charlie was speaking as she hosted a pop-up Urban Herb Garden designed by Swiss herbal sweet manufacturer, Ricola.
Speaking about the use of herbs, Charlie said: ““Of course, herbs are really good for cooking with but also herbs like rosemary can be trained to grow up walls and trellis, or you can even make it into topiary.
"It’s great to grow things yourself and herbs are so much nicer when you pick them fresh, plus they’re so expensive at the supermarket so it’s a great way to save money!”
Got a story? email [email protected] or call us direct on 02077824220