Tommy Walsh (born 18 December 1956) is an English television personality, presenter and celebrity builder best known for the gardening and

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi- ...

television shows ''

Ground Force ''Ground Force'' is a British garden makeover television series originally broadcast by the BBC between 1997 and 2005. The series was originally hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh. Production The series was created b ...

'' (1997–2005) and ''Challenge Tommy Walsh'' (2002–2005).

Biography

Educated at Parmiter's School, then a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

, Walsh became a builder and first came to public attention after appearing in the

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

gardening programme ''

'' with

Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster and writer. After working as a professional gardener and a horticultural journalist, he became a radio and television presenter and a novelist. Early career Alan Fred T ...

, responsible for the hard landscaping. He stayed with the show for the rest of its run, from 1997 to 2005. Walsh had a small acting role in the film ''One''.Chamberlain, Zoe (2004
"Ground Force Tommy Lands Killer Film Role"
''

Sunday Mercury ''Sunday Mercury'' is a Sunday Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and now owned by Reach plc. History The first edition was published on 29 December 1918. The first editor was John Turner Fearon (1869–1937), w ...

'', 31 October 2004 He has also appeared on Lily Savage's ''

Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which first aired in 1979. The show is based on the American game show ''Match Game'', with contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panellists to fill-in-the-blank questions. The ...

''. In 2023, he was a contestant on BBC's quiz show ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

''.

Personal life

Walsh lives in

South Hackney South Hackney is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is in East London and is about northeast of Charing Cross. The Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy on the corner of Victoria Park Road and Lammas Wal ...

with his wife Marie and three children.Anstead, Mark (2010)
Tommy Walsh: 'I borrowed from friends to save my father from repossession'
, ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 14 May 2010, retrieved 2010-08-27 He is patron of the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust. In 2002, Walsh had a benign tumour removed from his chest. In 2022, he was diagnosed with

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

, underwent surgery and fully recovered.

Television work

Walsh has presented several television shows, including: * ''Challenge Tommy Walsh'' (2002–2005, with Alan Herd) * ''Space Invaders'' * ''Tommy Walsh's Eco House'' (2010) * ''Trading Places'' * ''Tommy's Ultimate Workshop'' * ''Tommy's DIY Survival'' * ''The Reclaimers'' * ''

'' (1997–2005) * ''Our House'' * ''Fix Your House For Free'' * ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed ...

'' * ''Flip That House with Tommy Walsh'' * ''My Life as a DIY Nutter'' (Channel 5) * ''Cowboys & Angels'' (BBC) * ''Me and my son Greg'' (2017) * ''

Homes Under the Hammer ''Homes Under the Hammer'' is a British factual renovation and auction television series that is screened on BBC One as part of the daytime schedule. The series has been running since 17 November 2003, and is currently presented by Martin Rober ...

'' (2021–2024) * ''Clean It, Fix It''

Publications

*''Ground Force: Practical Garden Projects'' (2000), BBC Books *''Ground Force: Garden Handbook'' (2001), BBC Books – with

and Charlie Dimmock *''Tommy Walsh's DIY Guide'' (2001), Focus Multimedia Ltd – CD-ROM *''Basic DIY'' (2002), Collins *''DIY Survival'' (2002), Collins *''Bathroom DIY'' (2004), Collins *''Kitchen DIY'' (2004), Collins *''Living Spaces DIY'' (2004), Collins *''Outdoor DIY'' (2004), Collins

References

External links

UKTV Gardens profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Tommy 1956 births Living people English television presenters English people of Irish descent People from South Hackney People educated at Parmiter's School, London