Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don recently announced that he’ll be leaving the BBC show after 23 years, and although the star makes it look easy on-screen, he says the reality is very different.
BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has made a significant admission about what his life is like behind-the-scenes, as fans have been left devastated by his exit announcement.
Just over a month ago on September 8, Monty, 71, told the world via Instagram that he was leaving the BBC show after 23 years of presenting it.
In his statement, he admitted it was “time for a change” and “new adventures” as he appeared in his garden and broke the news. However, just days before the video was released, he appeared on the Good Food podcast to clear up one thing that had been bugging him, how people viewed his life.
When he was asked by the interviewer what the public’s biggest misconception about him was, Monty said it was that the public seemed to think he gardened all the time; something that isn’t the case. He added that, despite how informal he makes Gardeners’ World feel, a lot of planning goes into it.
He explained: “That I spend all my time gardening. The biggest misconception is that I just happen to be in the garden 18 hours a day and every now and then, a film crew turns up and catches me in the garden.
“There is a production team of about 50 people, there are scripts, there are pre-production meetings. It’s an incredibly complex jigsaw puzzle we put together.”
Monty went on to add that gardening is in fact something he does in his spare time, it’s a way for him to relax just as other people might engage in things they enjoy outside of work.
He continued: “I mean, seriously, I lead an incredibly busy life. I write books, I give talks, I travel a lot to film. I garden in my spare time. I’m not a full-time gardener.
“I wish I was, but I go to work every day. I don’t get paid to garden. I do garden nearly all my spare time and so, nowadays, I try and spend one full day a week in the garden and a couple of three/four hour sessions. I think people think I occasionally go indoors and get fed.”
Although Monty cleared up his easygoing presenting style and spoke of the immense amount of work that goes into the programme, it is nevertheless a talent which has drawn the attention of his contemporaries, notably former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
In a column for The Times, the former Grand Tour presenter called on the BBC to think very carefully about who they replace Monty with, urging the broadcaster not to replace him with someone who didn’t know what they were talking about.
He explained: “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s been a trend in recent years for television shows to be presented by ‘characters’…There’s also a trend to hire people who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.
“As I write, the BBC bigwigs are almost certainly having a Zoom call to decide who they want as the new Monty….
“I bet my name comes up too, ‘because he’s doing that farm thing now and farming’s just big gardening isn’t it?'”
Monty returns to UK screens this evening (October 9) on BBC Gardeners’ World at 8pm on BBC Two.
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