Gardeners’ World presenter Adam Frost has opened up on growing up and his personal life, including his battle with a long-term illness and the reason he left his childhood home
Liam Ryder Digital Production Editor and Emmanuella Ngimbi
15:20, 25 Mar 2025Updated 15:30, 25 Mar 2025
Adam Frost has opened up about his childhood(Image: BBC Studios)
Adam Frost has given fans a glimpse into his personal life and his upbringing, including the bizarre reason he left his family home as a teenager.
Adam, the familiar face of BBC Gardeners’ World since 2016 and a Chelsea Flower Show champion, has opened up about his childhood and current family life. The 55-year-old also spoke candidly about his passion for nature that was ignited during his youth in his grandparents’ garden.
Beyond his television fame, Adam has talked about coping with Fibromyalgia, a condition he was diagnosed with “around 20 years ago”.
In an unexpected revelation, he shared the true reason behind leaving his family home as a teenager to pursue a career in landscaping in London.
Originally from Buckhurst Hill in Essex, Adam disclosed on the Loose Ends podcast that he left home aged for his first job at the North Devon Parks Department. At the age of 16, he moved having learned of his parents’ involvement in swinging.
Adam recalled on the podcast: “I left school at 16 because I’d then moved from London to Devon, and at 16 years old, someone’s not going to like me saying this but my mum and dad decided to do a swap with another couple.
“So, they were all swapping couples, so I’ve gone, ‘no, it’s not really for me,’ I left home, there you go.”
Adam has spoken candidly about his private life(Image: BBC)
Nowadays, Adam is happily married to Sulina Frost, with whom he shares four children: Abi-Jade, Jacob, Amber-Lily, and Oakley.
While he tends to keep his marriage private, he has mentioned that they have faced challenging times which led them to reconsider their family dynamics, reports the Express.
In 2022, Adam was battling Covid-19 while his wife Sulina was hospitalised and developed sepsis. Their then 15-year-old daughter was diagnosed with an eating disorder.
“Her mum was in hospital and she ended up really poorly, she ended up with an eating disorder, like a lot of 15-year-olds, and she had friends going through it at school. So that took its toll.”
Adam explained how these circumstances led to the family’s decision to relocate: “Probably, in reality for the first time since I was about 16 years old – and realised that my life is slightly chaotic.
“So as a family, we’ve just decided to scale back, so I can spend more time with them – but it does mean I’ve got a smaller garden.”