Tommy Walsh dead at 69
Ground force star Tommy Walsh has died following a "long illness".
Tommy Walsh has died at the age of 69.
The former Ground Force star - who worked on the gardening makeover show from 1997 until it ended in 2005 - passed away following a "long illness", his representative confirmed on Monday (09.11.26).
Tommy's agent, Debbie Schiesser, said: "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."
Tommy previously played for Old Parmiterians and the non-league football side paid tribute to the late star on X.
They wrote: “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."
Although no details of Tommy's health issues have been made public, the presenter - who had three children with wife Marie - had previously battled lung and throat cancer.
The Homes Under the Hammer star revealed in June 2024 that the disease had returned for a third time, but was confident his treatment had "worked really well".
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “My cancer came back earlier this year … they found it again under the lung.
“So I had to have this new treatment called SABR and what it is is radiotherapy which targets it to an exact spot without damaging the organs around it.
"So they used that and it shrunk. It is now not anywhere else. It is going away. Because it is shrinking it will shrink down to nothing and disappear. I will then just have to have annual checks. It has worked for me really well.”
Tommy reflected on how lucky he was that his cancer was discovered “just outside his lung”, despite a doctor’s fears.
He said: “They thought it was in the lung and then I would have been in trouble.
"Surgery would have been serious where they cut you open and take a big lump of bone out of the rib and then they would have to put a piece of metal mesh in to stop the lung falling out of the hole.
“So I did not want but we had that as a backup. The SABR treatment has worked and I am healthy so I have not been in any pain.”
