Alan Titchmarsh thanks a metal detectorist who found his wedding ring

Alan Titchmarsh thanks a metal detectorist who found his wedding ring buried seven inches in soil a day after the presenter lost it while filming ITV garden makeover show

  • Metal detectorist found Alan Titchmarsh’s wedding ring beneath a flower bed
  • Anthony Matthews was called in after the TV presenter lost it while filming
  • But he said he never heard anything back from the gardener following the findĀ 
  • Mr Titchmarsh has since apologised to Anthony for not saying thank you sooner


Alan Titchmarsh has thanked a metal detectorist who found his wedding ring 24 hours after the presenter lost it in the dirt while filming a garden makeover show.

The TV presenter was digging a new flower bed for ITV‘s Love Your Garden when the ring slipped from his ring finger.

He didn’t notice it had gone straight away but launched a search to find it accompanied by colleagues when he did realise.

Despite spending hours looking they couldn’t find the ring and Alan, 72, had to leave the garden location the next day to fulfill filming commitments elsewhere.

The TV presenter was digging a new flower bed for ITV’s Love Your Garden when the ring slipped from his finger

The production team then contacted local metal detectorist Anthony Matthews and drove him to the property in Horden, near Sunderland, County Durham.

After an arduous hour long search Mr Matthews, 42, located the ring buried seven inches below the soil in the newly planted flower bed.

He was met with a round of applause by Alan’s colleagues and was gifted a bottle of wine.

The ring was later returned to a relieved Alan who has been married to wife Alison for 46 years.

Mr Matthews, a sales rep, said: ‘The woman whose grandmother had her garden done up for the show, got in touch with me.

‘The ring had slipped straight off Alan’s finger when he was working in the soil.

‘When I arrived they’d finished filming and Alan had left so I just missed him.

After an arduous hour long search Mr Matthews, 42, located the ring buried seven inches below the soil in the newly planted flower bed. He was met with a round of applause by Alan's colleagues and was gifted a bottle of wine

After an arduous hour long search Mr Matthews, 42, located the ring buried seven inches below the soil in the newly planted flower bed. He was met with a round of applause by Alan’s colleagues and was gifted a bottle of wine

‘It was really tough to find because there were so many little metal objects in the garden.

‘After about 40 minutes I found it 7ins under soil in a flower bed with a metal trellis. Everyone there was overjoyed.’

As Alan was not there the production crew promised to pass on Anthony’s contact details to him so he could say thank you.

But he said he never heard anything back from the gardener following the find.

He said: ‘A wedding ring is irreplaceable – if someone found mine I’d be over the moon.

‘I sent them an email but never heard anything.’

A ‘mortified’ Alan has since apologised to Anthony for not saying thank you sooner and blamed it on a break down in communication.

He said: ‘I am horrified to discover that Anthony has not been thanked. I was unaware that he had been involved.

‘I understood the ring to have been found by one of our construction team the day after the build and my thanks to them were unbounded.

‘I have no record of ever receiving a communication from Anthony or you can rest assured that I would have thanked him profusely.

‘I now take this – albeit belated – opportunity of saying thank you.

‘It was a kind thing to do and he should most certainly have been thanked by those involved after my departure.’

Alan added: ‘I was convinced it was lost so you can imagine my delight at it being found so quickly.

‘The team found it within an hour and returned it to me at the following week’s shoot.

‘I only told my wife I had lost it once it had been found.’

Alan and wife Alison live in Alton, Hants, and they have two children, Polly and Camilla.

The filming for the new series of Love Your Garden took place last September.