Jenny Eclair was keen to sow some chaos on BBC Gardeners’ World as she swore on-air when a table collapsed.

The telly favourite was invited to a bash at Hampton Court, but things were shaky from the off. Taking to X – formerly Twitter – Jenny explained all, writing: “Invited to Hampton Court Festival with complimentary lunch – wandered into wrong complimentary lunch venue and enjoyed a complimentary lunch in the judges’ marquee.

“Very flustered woman with lanyard got very upset,” she said. “When a very heavy picnic table with metal strut (unfortunately not correctly assembled) collapses on you and the old man, and amongst the first people to come to your aid are Anita Dobson and Sir Brian May! What I call an eventful day.”

Despite some help from other A-listers, there was more chaos to come, as Jenny said: “Table collapse [continued] when the incident occurred we were within a few yards of a film crew for Gardeners’ World.

"Listen closely on Friday and you might hear a hysterical me yelling ‘F***ing hell, what the sh***ing f***, Jesus Christ’ etc. in the background!”

Sobering up for a moment, Jenny went on to say: “Spent all day joking about what happened today – suddenly realised we are both a bit battered and shocked – really don’t want this happening to anyone else. That table could have had really serious consequences and I keep thinking what might have happened if we’d taken the grandson.”

Fans were quick to offer support in the comments – with one trying to keep things light as they joked about an Antiques Roadshow blunder they’d made. They penned: “On an episode of Antiques Roadshow you can just hear my old mum saying, ‘… For that? F*** off!’ in the background.”

Another supporter chuckled: “Remember when Ainsley Harriott’s sister fell in a pond at the Chelsea Flower Show?” As another penned: “Yesss! I love Gardeners’ World but will love it even more if I can hear you.”

Someone else echoed: “I’m now going to watch Gardeners’ World for the first time ever.” But another fan suggested: “Think they may just edit that bit out… be great if they didn’t!”

The latest drama unfolded after Gardeners’ World star Monty Don hit out at the “gardening Mafia” and fumed he refuses to pander to viewers who try to show off their own knowledge. He wrote for the BBC magazine: “There is a small but vociferous part of the audience who see Gardeners’ World as a chance to both tick the boxes of their own horticultural knowledge and to loudly disapprove if anything is shown or done in a way that differs from their own.

"We used to be self-conscious about placating this 'gardening mafia', but not any more. They are welcome, but Gardeners’ World is not aimed exclusively at or for them."