The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the longest and toughest filming week of my year, but it’s also the most enjoyable because the show has a huge buzz about it and is watched by millions on television every day. I will be filming from tomorrow through to Saturday and it’s a huge TV production operation. This is a typical day.

An early start

I get up at about 6.15am for a 6.45 taxi, which gets me to the show for 7.15. I then go straight to the cramped multipurpose Portakabin for make-up. This usually consists of making my pate less shiny, and attempting to reduce the bags under my eyes, which becomes an increasingly demanding task by the end of the week.

I get puffed over many times during the day and some poor soul has to remember which clothes I’m wearing at each given moment for continuity. I then try to get my head round the work before me, any scripted pieces and the overall theme of that day’s show. The producers work right up to the wire to try to capture the unique mood and Alan (Titchmarsh) and I like to throw in ideas, too.

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I then wolf down an egg sandwich and search for a decent cup of coffee en route to the first set-up. It’s absolutely true what they say about BBC coffee so I try to make friends with the staff on the real-coffee stands. I usually kick off filming with a piece about design, while on medals day I will interview someone about which medal they’ve been given and capture their reactions.

The amount of work and preparation for the gardens and plant exhibits is so intense that the designers and plants people tend to be exhausted by this time and emotions are hard to contain. I then put my earpiece in and listen to my director, who is tucked far away in the compound and is watching me on several screens . There are many other voices in my ear that are hard to block out while I’m talking, but without them I am lost. Usually I then go straight on to a garden with an autocue to film a piece with Alan, either to do some links or to discuss a particular show garden in more detail.

Mid-morning munchies

By 10.30am it feels like lunchtime, so I have a banana to keep me going. My runner once turned up with a can of beer, which was embarrassing because everyone thought I had a drink problem. A crackly radio system and the ensuing Chinese whispers had turned the word “banana” into “can of lager”. I didn’t drink it.

The daytime show goes out live just after lunch so there are rehearsals with the outside broadcast crew. I will go off and make some short films or go back to the editing van to do some voiceovers. By now the public are in and it becomes more difficult to move through the site quickly. It’s often a relief to get on to the gardens to find some space, even though you feel as if you are getting in the way of paying visitors. You can have some great banter with them, which is sometimes caught on camera, but the pressure is on, too, and they love to see a presenter fluff his lines or even step into a pond (yup, that was me in 2006).

Lunch on the run

Early in the week lunches are short, but as things progress we have more footage under our belts, which means that I may even get a proper lunch hour. As well as lunch, the continuing debate about medal decisions, favourite gardens and what the Queen was wearing get chewed over, too.

A busy afternoon

The daytime show goes out live so many of the crew are focused on this. I may escape to the Kings Road, not for a spot of shopping but to film “Sloane in Bloom”: the local shops, swept up in all the excitement surrounding the flower show, transform their shopfronts into horticultural delights. Remember, we’re talking about Bulgari, LK Bennett and Hermès.

The evening shift

I join Alan on the terrace to top-and-tail the programme. It’s a relief to sit down. If the weather’s looking dodgy we take our chances and go for it as we’d all rather film it outdoors. On the terrace we invite guests, designers, plant specialists and judges for discussions and debates and I think this “live feel” is what gives Chelsea coverage its buzz.

Once the programme is finished it’s a cab home to try to get my head down for the next day, which, although I’m exhausted, is difficult because the adrenalin is always flowing.

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