Funny Side of Life
We recently interviewed Tom Allen in The Westland Garden Spring/Summer 2025, here is an extended version of that interview, plus Behind-the-Scenes content from the day we visited him in his garden.
Tom Allen is not only well known for presenting television programmes, he’s increasingly loved by those who follow his gardening stories online. But what sort of home gardener actually is he? Chris Young went along to find out.
There are some people who just have a knack of making other people smile. Whether it’s their accent, what they say, or how they say it, they are just naturally funny people. But often, in our polarised and rather confusing world, social media isn’t a place to find such humour, fun or friendship.
But for Tom Allen, that’s exactly what he’s experienced since he started sharing more of his gardening life on Instagram a few years ago. As you’d expect for someone as quick witted as him, he makes almost all gardening subjects a matter of fun.
“It was my partner Alfie who encouraged me to share more gardening videos on Instagram,” explains Tom. “And it’s gone really well. By sharing my failures and successes, I hope people can see I’m being honest…and sometimes rather naïve!” One of the most recent horticultural exploits that didn’t turn out as Tom had wanted was by putting a beautiful bird of paradise plant (Strelitzia) in the shed for winter….without any light or water. As Tom soon found out, it didn’t turn out too well for the plant…
But this is very much the spirit of Tom Allen. Incredibly likeable, honest, easy going and great fun, he is very much as you see him on screen. Whether it’s his acerbic wit on The Apprentice: You’re Fired or Bake Off: An Extra Slice, or his work on panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats or Would I Lie to You, he’s a busy man. Plus his radio work, whether for BBC Radio 4 or his Sunday afternoon show for Virgin Radio – as well as what he shares on social media or gets paid to do for advertising.
For the love of gardens
So what has all this frenetic media activity got to do with gardens I ask him? “I love gardening,” he replies. “Alfie said to me once, ‘Everything’s alright with you when you’re in the garden’, and I realised that he was absolutely right.” Living in a recently updated, beautiful, double-bay-windowed 19th century townhouse in Bromley, southeast London, the garden is about 20m long and 7m wide. Which means it’s plenty big enough for a lawn, veg bed, ornamental border, two seating areas, a water feature and plenty of interest.
“I only moved into the house in 2021 – I’d been living with my parents until then,” Tom says. “So having this garden was a huge bonus – it has brought me a lot of joy. I love adding architectural interest to it, whether the outdoor furniture, the arch with the jasmine growing over it, or just a collection of pots.” A friend helps in the garden, especially when Tom’s away filming.
For the love of veg
It is perhaps the growing of vegetables that is the most important to Tom – and for good reason. Having grown up in Bromley, not far from where he lives now, his parents always encouraged him to be outside. “Dad loved growing his veg, while Mum enjoyed sitting in the garden,” he reminisces. “They’d often ask me to be outside, topping up the bird bath or playing with water. Dad was definitely of the generation where you grew your own produce and took pride in doing so.”
Sadly his father passed away four years ago, but Tom is honest about the veggies he grows now and that they are a direct link back to his father. He calls it an active form of grief. “Having lived with my parents until I was 38, Dad was proud to know that I was buying a house with a garden,” he says.
It’s now Tom’s turn to continue the veg-growing-tradition and as you’d expect, he layers on the self-deprecation as well as evident honesty. From cabbages to lettuces, beetroot to runner beans, strawberries to chard, there’s a huge amount of growing in just a few square metres of his raised bed. “I love growing vegetables and fruit as it really makes me think about climate change, about agriculture, and the whole idea of how food gets put on our table,” he explains. “But when I think about growing tomatoes….what a roller coaster that is! Last year I sowed the seed; grew them on a windowsill; then they got too leggy; then I moved them outside; then they got nice and bushy…they seemed happy…but then the leaves dropped off leaving me with hardly any tomatoes!” He laughs as he says it, but haven’t we all had a similar level of gardening frustration?
Even though Tom is known for presenting television rather than gardening, he is loving making connections across the industry: “I first went to RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2021 and since then the gardening world has been so welcoming, so happy. People seem really genuine and just want to pass their knowledge and passion on.” And in Tom’s inimitable way, he’s doing exactly that through Instagram. With hundreds of thousands of followers, he gets huge engagement when he shows the trials and tribulations that we – as gardeners – all experience.
There’s no doubt that Tom is a showman (his drama background testifies to that), but he is not born of privilege or patronage – his Dad was a coach driver. But he has a great turn of phrase and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Yet underneath all that, there’s a humble beginner gardener who needs to garden because he knows he’s happier when he’s doing so. He wants to grow more, buy more, learn more, and yes, ultimately, grow better tomatoes this year. And as any gardener knows, that’s definitely not a laughing matter…
Tom is an Ambassador of St Christopher’s Hospice in south east London, which is widely recognised as the first modern hospice. It’s a world-class palliative care unit, relying on donations for much of its work: stchristophers.org.uk
Follow Tom on Instagram: @tomindeed
