BBC TV legend dies after long illness

Tommy Walsh has passed away at the age of 69.

The former Ground Force star, who appeared on the popular gardening makeover programme from 1997 until it came to an end in 2005, died following a “long illness”, his representative confirmed on Monday (09.11.26).

Tommy’s agent, Debbie Schiesser, announced the sad news, saying: “Tommy died peacefully after a long illness surrounded by his family.

“As this has only just happened, we would ask everyone to please respect the family’s privacy.”

Tommy also had a long association with football, having previously played for Old Parmiterians. The non-league club paid tribute to him following his death in a post on X.

They wrote: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tommy Walsh. A Parmiters boy he played for the club for many years in goal but made a great career as a TV personality in shows such as Ground Force. He will be sorely missed. RIP Tommy.”

While the exact nature of Tommy’s illness has not been disclosed, the television presenter, who shared three children with his wife Marie, had previously faced battles with lung and throat cancer.

In June 2024, the Homes Under the Hammer star revealed that his cancer had returned for a third time. However, he remained optimistic after undergoing treatment, explaining that it had “worked really well”.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, he said: “My cancer came back earlier this year … they found it again under the lung.

“So I had to have this new treatment called SABR and what it is is radiotherapy which targets it to an exact spot without damaging the organs around it.

“So they used that and it shrunk. It is now not anywhere else. It is going away. Because it is shrinking it will shrink down to nothing and disappear. I will then just have to have annual checks. It has worked for me really well.”

Tommy also spoke about his relief that the cancer had been detected “just outside his lung”, rather than inside the organ, which doctors had initially feared.

He explained: “They thought it was in the lung and then I would have been in trouble.

“Surgery would have been serious where they cut you open and take a big lump of bone out of the rib and then they would have to put a piece of metal mesh in to stop the lung falling out of the hole.

“So I did not want but we had that as a backup. The SABR treatment has worked and I am healthy so I have not been in any pain.”

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