Parishioners at a historic cathedral in Cambridgeshire once fumed over a sculpture being erected depicting the Virgin Mary. However, they all claimed that it bore too much resemblance to TV gardener Charlie Dimmock.
The life-sized artwork was revealed at Ely Cathedral by King Charles when he was still a Prince back in 2001, sparking a flurry of correspondence from cathedral visitors. One churchgoer dubbed it "the Virgin of the wet T-shirt", whilst others confessed they found it difficult to look at. The sculpture, housed in the cathedral's Lady Chapel, is the creation of David Wynne, a friend of the Royals who has produced several pieces for the prince's Highgrove residence. The Dean of the cathedral, the Very Reverend Michael Higgins, admitted he had been swamped with letters of complaint. However, he defended the artwork, which depicts the Virgin Mary with long blonde hair. He told the BBC: "It is a work of art and art is supposed to be something people can talk about and pass comment on. I would find it a lot more worrying if there had been no reaction."
One woman wrote to express her view that the sculpture resembled a "cult idol of some Northern European pagan Goddess".
Another penned: "The statue seems to be a belly or disco dancer making suggestive movements and to set it up as the Virgin Mary is nothing short of an outrage."
Elsewhere, Charlie has been a fan favourite on BBC's hit gardening show Garden Rescue helping to transform people's garden spaces across the UK in recent years but many of us will remember her as the down to earth sex symbol which helped launch Ground Force.
The blonde-haired, green fingered BBC presenter rose to fame in the 1990s alongside fellow garden legends Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh on Ground Force.
Ground Force came to an end in 2005, but Charlie has continued to work on various prominent garden shows, including Garden Rescue.
Sadly, towards the end of her Ground Force stint, both her mum and stepdad were tragically killed in a tsunami while holidaying in Thailand.
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