Youtuber and social media star Joe Sugg who is originally from Lacock is going back to his roots by returning to a childhood passion.
Sugg, who has 7.48 million followers on Youtube and has been on Strictly as well as other TV shows has found that in a world dominated by screens, his garden has become his haven.
So much so that he has even written a book about gardening.
He and his partner, professional Strictly dancer Dianne Buswell, moved to the Sussex countryside from London 18 months ago, and the 31-year-old former thatcher couldn’t wait to get his hands dirty in his one-acre north-facing garden.
Joe said in an interview with PA: “I grew up in a National Trust village called Lacock in Wiltshire.
“My mum had always been a very keen gardener and we were very fortunate that every house we moved to, the garden was a big part of the property.
“It was always a project Mum and Dad would work hard on.
“I was always picking up things by watching my parents but it’s not until now that I thought, actually I’m at an age when I want to do that myself.
“My mum got her gardening knowledge from her dad, my grandfather, who grew up on a farm in Somerset, so it has been passed down.”
In a time of uncertainty, the outdoors and gardening brought comfort to many amid the pandemic- and it seems the benefits were the same for Joe.
He said: “It was during the third lockdown, and we had this new garden to explore, so we breezed through it because we were busy working on the house and going in the garden.”
He writes in his book, Grow: “Whether it’s been long country walks, getting to grips with the garden, spotting wildlife or creating an oasis of calm via the medium of houseplants, I’ve fallen back in love with a world I’d lost touch with, thanks to the fast-paced digital world I’d become so entrenched in.”
It is not the first time the Youtuber has discussed the pressure of the fame he has become accustomed to.
He noted earlier this year on a podcast, The Diary of a CEO, led by Dragon’s Den Investor Steven Bartlett, that he has fallen in popularity over the years, but he has been trying to cross-pollinate his work in as many different areas as he can.
He stated: “The rise but also the fall can happen so quickly.”
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