He was once the darling of housewives across the land but now Alan Titchmarsh appears to have reached an all-time low in a desperate attempt to increase viewing figures on his daytime show.

The former Gardeners' World favourite was seen yesterday searching for a model's erogenous zones while presenting Alan's Cheeky Bits, a seedy segment on ITV's The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

Titchmarsh must have been wondering how he went from being a household name fronting one of the nation's most popular shows, to placing stickers on a bikini-wearing model named Kelly.

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An all-time low for one of the nation's favourite TV presenters? Alan Titchmarsh raises a hand to 'Kelly', a model whose erogenous zones he was looking for

The 58-year-old seemed embarrassed, as did the studio audience - no doubt shocked to see the likeable father-of-two partake in such an excruciating exercise more likely to be seen on the channel's controversial Jeremy Kyle show.

An audience member said: "He looked like he didn't know where to put his hands when given the job of putting stickers on to the model.

"He also used a feather duster under Kelly's armpit at one point, as the show's resident sex expert told him that area was one of the erogenous zones."

It is not the first time Titchmarsh has courted the seedier side of television.

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Glad that's over? Alan's latest show is obviously aimed at a different demographic to the one the popular and hugely respected Gardener's World attracted

On previous editions of the ITV show, the host has talked about flavoured condoms, sexual fantasies, body chocolate and role-play.

He has also confronted WI members about breast-firming oil and witnessed a semi-naked male model being covered in olive oil.

Titchmarsh is no stranger to daytime TV, hosting BBC's Pebble Mill - a rather more conservative affair than his current job.

He followed Pebble Mill and Gardeners' World with the hugely popular Ground Force, which at its peak was watched by an average of 12 million viewers.

In 2000, Titchmarsh was awarded the M.B.E. in the Queen's Millennium Honours List for his services to gardening and broadcasting.

How those days must seem like a distant memory now.

Father-of-two Titchmarsh, 58, was embarrassed by the whole excruciating exercise - as was the studio audience