I think I was always realistic - well, not the Percy thing, that was ridiculous - but I never dreamed of being a racing car driver or anything.

I've covered a lot of the British countryside and the UK from top to bottom and side to side. It's such a pity more people don't appreciate what's on their doorstep.

I get up to 400 letters a week, so I have a full-time PA, but I try to answer everything. People don't seem to realise that if they send something living in the post it's going to die on the way. Especially when you wrap it in a polythene bag.

I never get bored of my wife. It's lovely.

It's never much fun at school - it's just dates. Then as you get older, for some reason, you get more interested.

Julia Roberts was really rather lovely. I had to interview her on Pebble Mill At One years ago. You learn not to be starstruck if you're trying to get a decent interview out of someone. If you fall apart it's counter productive.

At school I was called Fred, which is my middle name. At that time, Fred was considered to be a bit of a horrible name, so that's why. Otherwise, I was called Titchy because I was little. I was still only about 4ft something when I left school. I grew a foot under glass in my first year as a gardener. It's really quite amazing what sun and manure can do.