One of my favourite lines from the Alan Partridge TV shows came when his new girlfriend declared her love for him, prompting an uncomfortable response.

“I love you Alan!” she cried. “Er, thanks a lot,” came his awkward reply.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, the word ‘love’ is all over the place. It’s a word that can mean the world, but it gets thrown around so often it can also become cheap and meaningless.

With the Baftas, Brits, Grammies and Oscars all taking place this month, the luvvie season is well under way – and where would luvvies be without the L word?

When the big guns of film, theatre and music gather for mutual back-slapping, air-kissing and painfully pretentious acceptance speeches, they love everyone, from their dear old nan to the lighting technician’s assistant.

“Thanks to the viewers/Academy/ mobile phone network sponsor – I love you all,” is a line often trotted out by A-listers who usually go to great lengths to avoid the public they claim to love.

Reality TV is full of love too. “You’re a superstar, I love you!” X Factor judges screech at contestants after a mediocre delivery of an Adele ballad.

Celebrities learning to ice skate, salsa or build a jungle campfire love each other within minutes of meeting. “I’d take a bullet for that guy,” a Big Brother housemate once hilariously said of someone he’d known about 24 hours.

Love crops up a lot in the real world too. I’ve lost count of the ‘professional’ e-mails landing in my inbox ending with ‘xx’ or ‘lol’.

You only have to speak briefly to a North London PR girl called Tallulah or a theatrical agent called Jeremy once on the phone, and suddenly they “love ya hon”.

And when the words “love you” are used at the end of so many phone conversations to partners, friends and family, they subsequently sound as meaningful as “we need pasta sauce and loo roll, don’t forget to call at the Co-op”.

I grew up in a loving family, but I don’t remember my parents ever telling me they loved me – and thank goodness because I’d have cringed if they had. They didn’t need to say it because I already knew.

You can find love in over-priced Valentine cards, reality TV or PR e-mails if you want.

For me, love was in the packed lunches my mum sent me off to school with, and it’s in my dad’s offer of filling my petrol tank when I’m skint before pay day.

Love is in the minutiae of life – it doesn’t need to be declared every five minutes.