Alan Titchmarsh verges on tears as guest opens up on heartbreaking loss of baby daughter

Appearing on Titchmarsh's ITV show, Murray reflected on he and actor wife Sarah Parish's loss of their eight-month-old, Ella-Jayne.

Their daughter heartbreakingly died from a congenital heart defect, and ever since the couple have channeled their grief into something positive.

As the actor explained how he had spent two months working at an orphanage in Cambodia setting up the Murray Parish Trust following the tragedy, broadcaster Titchmarsh seemed choked up.

"You've done a heck of a lot of work for Southampton Hospital because of Ella-Jayne," he pointed out.

The gardening expert continued: "You lost a child and you have raised millions, the two of you, with the Murray Parish Trust, for equipment for Southampton Hospital. And that goes on, presumably, does it?"

Murray, who has starred in The Crown, explained: "That keeps going on. That just keeps… We lost Ella-Jayne at the beginning of 2009 and we founded the charity a few years later."

Seeming close to tears, the actor added: "We've raised, I think around £5 million now for paediatric facilities across the south of England, predominantly as you say Southampton Children's Hospital, but that services eight counties.

"We set that charity up as lots of people do who have been through trauma, as a way of giving back and as a therapy, as displacement if you like of where to put your grief. And it just grew."

In a 2019 interview, actress Parish, 56, detailed how the loss had changed her and Murray "for the better".

Speaking to the MailOnline, she stated: "It changed us as people, definitely. It has to. And actually, the older you get, the more people you meet who have lost children.

"A lot of people lose children in far worse circumstances than Jim and me. Ella-Jayne was only eight months old, she was very poorly anyway, so we were already prepped for what could happen.

"Whereas I've met people along the way who had a healthy child, everything was good, and suddenly they've gone.

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"I've known people who have lost their children at the age of 16. It's just unbearable. It will always change you as a person. It's changed us for the better, I think."

Titchmarsh speaks to an array of famous faces on the show and has been a staple on screens for decades. However, he has in the past reflected on how cancel culture has made him consider stepping away from the spotlight.

Speaking last year, Titchmarsh acknowledged that he's "very careful" due to cancel culture's "terrifying" nature before making clear: "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. But I’ve had a good run," he added to the Telegraph.