Charlie Dimmock, the face of the BBC's Garden Rescue, has been living the single life in the New Forest following her split from long-term beau John Mushet after a headline-grabbing affair with a Ground Force colleague. The gardening guru, who became a household name on Ground Force from 1997 to 2005, saw her love life become tabloid fodder when her fling with a microphone operator came to light.
The romance led to the end of her 13-year relationship with Mushet in 2001. Opening up about the scandal and its aftermath, Charlie confessed to The Daily Mail in 2002: "I don't see Andy anymore, but I don't regret what happened. You wouldn't do anything if you kept worrying about what might go wrong."
She also reflected on the challenges post-breakup, saying: "John and I had been together for a long time so when we split up I relied heavily on family and close friends. I've discovered that the most difficult after-effect of the break-up is getting into another relationship."
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Birmingham Live reports that, despite later links to Barry Smith, a sound technician from Ground Force, by 2016 Charlie was embracing her independence. She expressed her contentment with being unattached to the Irish Independent, stating: "I'm going to be 50 this year. Even sharing a house with someone would be a no for me."
"I like my own company. I like to do what I want to do, I'm very selfish like that. I don't mind fitting in a bit, but I like to be able to get away and have the house to myself."
Green-fingered TV expert Charlie stepped back from her successful career when family tragedy struck in the early '00s. The star's mother Sue and stepfather Rob were killed when an earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Thailand in 2004. The Boxing Day natural disaster in the Indian Ocean killed 5,400 people, including 2,000 foreign tourists.
Charlie, 57, did not speak about the ordeal at the time, with her agent saying in a statement: "It is very upsetting for her. It has been too soon for her to come to terms with it." Speaking to the Evening Standard when the couple were still missing, her father Terry had said: "She is not coping well as you would expect from someone who fears they have lost their mother. Charlie is worried sick. We have not heard any news at all about Sue and Rob. Charlie had intended to fly out to Thailand but she has stayed here because the Foreign Office advised her a search would be futile."
Gardener Charlie, known for her flame red hair and casual style at the height of her Ground Force fame, turned down work for the next couple of years as she came to terms with her devastating loss. Known as Sue, her mother Maureen had been 59 and her stepfather Robert 58, both PR consultants from Romsey in Hampshire.
The star later spoke about the New Forest home she inherited from her mother following her death and how she was adapting it in preparation for when she is older. "I'm probably going to be an old dear living her with my animals, the horse and cats and dogs and I don't want to be unable to get upstairs," she said. "I'm a gardener and we're always planning for the next season. You have to be ahead of the game so you're not caught out by nature and I see this as the same sort of things."