Culture · Tommy WalshTommy Walsh dies aged 69: The builder behind Ground ForceWritten November 10, 2026 at 3:05 AM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Tommy Walsh has died aged sixty nine.0:09The builder became a familiar face through Groundforce and Homes under the Hammer.0:13His agent, Debbie Scheser, says he died peacefully after a long illness, surrounded0:18by his family.0:19How did a builder with a business in Hackney become a familiar face in Britain's0:22homes?0:23Walsh ran a building business in Hackney before television came along.0:26His experience reached back into childhood.0:28He remembered helping his father on Saturday mornings from the age of five or six,0:32years before viewers knew his name.0:34In two thousand and eight, I recalled, I used to work with my dad on a Saturday0:37morning when I was age five or six.0:39Seven years later, he described how much he'd enjoyed working with his father in the0:42building industry.0:43Asked how he'd started.0:45His answer was simple: First, it was working with my dad.0:48A house restoration brought him his television opportunity.0:50The owner was a producer developing ideas for what became Ground Force.0:54She asked Walsh to assess a couple of pilot programs, including one called Over the0:58Garden Wall.0:59His verdict was blunt.1:01It was like watching paint dry.1:02It was terrible.1:03He initially turned down the chance to appear three times.1:06His eight-year old daughter helped change his mind.1:08Walsh recalled that she'd made a ten-pounds bet with a boy at school that her father1:12would be on television.1:13He accepted the opportunity, and the builder became part of a garden makeover team.1:18Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmick became his ground force co-presenters.1:22Together, they transformed gardens belonging to members of the public.1:25Walsh supplied the building expertise that helped turn those plans into finished1:28spaces.1:29Gardening and practical construction became the combination viewers associated with1:32him.1:32Walsh appeared on ground force from one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven to1:36two thousand five, including the two thousand garden for Nelson Mandela.1:39His homes under the hammer recruitment was announced in November two thousand and1:42twenty, and he joined in two thousand and twenty-one.1:45Those dates marked the announcement and his arrival.1:48The garden for Nelson Mandela stood out even to Walsh himself.1:51Looking back, he said it would be hard to top that experience.1:54The special took the team's work beyond the domestic gardens that had made the1:57program familiar.1:58His later career kept returning to homes and the work needed to improve them.2:02He fronted challenge Tommy Walsh: Clean it, fix it, and cowboys and angels.2:07He also published DIY books carrying practical advice beyond the programs2:11themselves.2:12His other programs included Tommy Walsh's Eco House and Tommy's DIY survival.2:16Trading Places, Space Invaders, and Fix Your House for Free added to that range.2:20Across those titles, building, repairs, and improving people's living spaces2:24remained the recurring work.2:25Holmes under the Hammer brought him into another established renovation program in2:29two thousand and twenty-one.2:30The recruitment announcement issued on November eighteenth the previous year named2:34Walsh and Jockey Joseph as additions to the presenting team.2:37They joined Martin Roberts, Dion Dublin, and Martel Maxwell.2:41Walsh had previously undergone throat cancer surgery in two thousand and twenty, two2:44and lung cancer surgery in two thousand and twenty-three.2:47He reportedly made a full recovery from the earlier throat cancer.2:50His agent hasn't named the illness that caused his death.2:53His route into television grew directly out of the building work he already knew.2:56That experience connected the garden makeovers, home repairs and property renovation3:00that shaped his career.3:01Scheser announced his death in a statement made public on November9.3:05She said his family had been with him, and asked everyone to respect their privacy.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
