TV presenter Tommy Walsh dies aged 69 after long illness

Tommy Walsh, best known as a presenter on the BBC’s garden makeover series Ground Force, has died aged 69 following a long illness, his agent confirmed.

Walsh, a builder from Hackney, London, fronted Ground Force from 1997 to 2005 alongside Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock, with the show attracting up to 12 million viewers at its peak. He later appeared on other home‑improvement programmes such as Homes Under The Hammer and Clean It, Fix It, and took part in the weight‑loss series Celebrity Fit Club, Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank and the quiz show Pointless.

In early 2024 Walsh spoke at a Swallows Head & Neck Cancer charity event, revealing that doctors had found a three‑centimetre tumour in his lung and that he was awaiting a CT scan. He had previously battled throat cancer in 2022 and, after discovering benign chest lumps in 2002, had campaigned to raise awareness of male breast cancer.

Walsh was married to his wife Marie and was father to three children – Charlotte, Natalie and Jonjo. His agent, Debbie Schiesser, asked the public to respect the family’s privacy.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Brett Jordan / Pexels.