Ground Force star Tommy Walsh dies aged 69 after long illness

Tommy Walsh, the builder who became one of British television's most familiar DIY experts as co-presenter of the BBC's Ground Force, has died aged 69 after a long illness.

His agent, Debbie Schiesser, confirmed the death to the Press Association: "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."

The statement gives no further detail on the illness, and none should be assumed.

How a Hackney builder reached 12 million viewers

Walsh, from Hackney in east London, ran his own property business before television found him. His break came after he restored the house of a BBC producer developing what would become Ground Force.

He described the origins of the show bluntly in a 2004 BBC interview: "She asked me to look at a couple of pilots. One of them was the precursor to Ground Force, called Over the Garden Wall. It was like watching paint dry. It was terrible."

He turned down the offer to appear three times. He accepted only when his eight-year-old daughter told him she had made a £10 bet with a boy at school that her dad was going to be on TV.

Ground Force ran from 1997 to 2005 on BBC One, with Walsh working alongside Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock. At its peak it drew 12 million viewers. In one episode, the team flew to South Africa to work in secret on Nelson Mandela's garden, building a pergola and a water feature.

What came after Ground Force?

Walsh did not disappear when the garden-makeover format faded. He went on to front Clean It, Fix It and Cowboys and Angels, and in 2021 he joined the BBC's Homes Under the Hammer, following renovation projects and attending property auctions.

That late-career move matters: it kept him on daytime television for a fourth decade, rare durability in a format-driven industry that recycles presenters quickly.

Walsh attended Parmiter's grammar school in Bethnal Green, east London, and played football — in goal — for the Old Parmiterians. The club announced his death on X:

"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."

He is survived by his wife, Marie Walsh, and their three children, Charlotte, Natalie and Jonjo.

Walsh's career offers one measure of how far a trade credential, presented without pretence, could carry a broadcaster on British television — a route that fewer presenters now take, and that no current BBC daytime show has replicated at Ground Force's scale.