Alan Titchmarsh is ready to walk away from television rather than worry about being cancelled for something he has said.
Alan Titchmarsh finds cancel culture a 'terrifying' trend in modern society
The 'Love Your Garden' host has been a fixture on TV screens since the 1980s and recently saw himself come under fire for for arguing that people shouldn't use leaf blowers on Sunday mornings because they are loud and disruptive.
It was Alan's first experience on an online pile-on and the incident has made him question whether he wants to work in an industry where the wrong words could see you sacked from your job.
Addressing the criticism, the 74-year-old television personality said: "I was only arguing for a bit of peace and quiet. Everyone is so cross these days. I think cancel culture is terrifying. I'm avoiding the 'w' word. But I fear now that I'm getting too old to subscribe to all the current feelings.
"There is an ever-growing faction of people that endeavour to say you think this or that, even if that might not be what you said or what you meant. Tolerance should work both ways. And I don't feel it always does entirely."
Admitting the strain of adhering to political correctness could see him call time on his career, Alan added in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "It makes you very careful about what you say, and if the point ever came when that strain and that worry became too much, for me or my family, I think I'd say, enough. I'll go. This is the first time I've ever admitted that."
The garden guru sympathised with fellow TV stars that have had had their careers derailed due to cancel culture.
He said: "It's heart-breaking. Particularly for their families.
"As you get older you realise it's an increasingly fragile path, because you can so easily be misconstrued.
"There are days when I think, do I really want to be putting my head above this parapet? I'm 75 next birthday."
Alan also weighed in on the environmental protests from groups like Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, who try to get their messages heard through extreme means, such as holding up traffic and throwing paint at artworks.
The former 'Gardeners' World' host advice to the protesters is that "those who glue themselves to things must make sure that when they go home they do something useful, even if it's just planting a plant".
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