Gardener's World presenter Rachel de Thame has spoken about the difficulties of juggling motherhood and her career after she wasn't allowed to breastfeed at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The green-fingered star, 53, who has been a familiar face in the BBC's coverage of the world famous horticultural event, had been balancing her priorities successfully up until that point.
"I absolutely think women and men are equal in the world of horticulture and design, though there was one occasion when I was filming at the Chelsea Flower Show and I wasn't allowed to breastfeed," Rachel said.
"I'm an earth mother. I liked being pregnant and giving birth and breastfeeding. Up until that point, the job I was doing was working really well with juggling the kids, but not then."
The mother-of-four has two children with her filmmaker husband Gerard, and two with first husband Stephen Colover.
Her eldest is 26-year-old Lauren and her youngest is nine-year-old Emma.
Speaking to Radio Times, the former model and actress continued to ponder potential gender inequality in horticultural spheres.
"Having said there are as many opportunities for men as there are for women, I did notice that there weren't many show gardens designed by women this year at Chelsea and I am not sure what that's about.
"Maybe the same issues that affect women working in other spheres do affect women in horticulture. We have babies. We are not available for full-time work."
But Rachel believes that an equal number of male and female designers are necessary in order "to get balance".
"For me, women and men see things differently. Our eyes are made of rods and cones and men have more rods, which means they are prone to see structure etc. Women have more cones, which means we see and remember more colours and colour schemes. We definitely see things differently."
Reflecting on her successful career, the Countrywise star revealed that she is incredibly hard-working and a "tough tomboy".
"I work at it," she said. "People think of me wafting around smelling the roses, but I'm not like that at all. In terms of my career, I never felt good enough as a model. I thought it would give me up in the end. I don't feel that way about gardening. I know I will be doing it until I drop."
Despite her youthful appearance, the gardener is about to become a grandmother for the second time.
"Lauren is about to have her second child, so I'm enjoying being a granny," Rachel said
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