Monty Don Drops Retirement Bombshell and Admits He’s Worried About What’s Ahead
Monty Don built his gardening career as a writer, broadcaster, and practical gardener who turned a hands-on love of growing into one of the most recognizable careers in British horticulture.
According to his official biography, he has been making television for more than thirty years, with gardening as the main focus of his work, and he has served as the lead presenter of BBC’s Gardeners’ World since 2003; since 2011, the show has been filmed from his own Herefordshire garden, Longmeadow, which became central to his public identity as a gardener. Beyond Gardeners’ World, his career expanded through books, newspaper columns, and garden-travel series that explored gardening traditions in places such as Italy, France, Japan, Spain, and Britain, helping make him not just a TV host but one of the UK’s best-known gardening voices.
Monty Don has never been someone who chased validation. He has openly described himself as the outsider in his family — a man who was expelled from school twice, failed his exams, and once ran away with a married woman.
That is why it feels entirely in character that he recently declined an invitation to become master of one of Oxford University’s prestigious colleges.
“I thought, ‘My God, what would my parents think?’ They’d be amazed. Because it’s such a conventional status of achievement and respectability.
“Of course, I’m flattered, but it’s absurd. If you’ve been around long enough in the public eye, people assume you’re somehow respectable – but I’m no more worthy now than I was 20 years ago. One of the great liberations of age is realising that you don’t have to try and impress anybody. Just do your thing.”
He was in high spirits while speaking ahead of the release of his new book, British Gardens, which explores why gardening holds such a strong place in the national character.
Recently, there was speculation that Don might be preparing to step away from Gardeners’ World after leading the beloved BBC programme for 22 years, especially with his current contract set to end later this year and more travel documentaries also on the horizon.
But now he has made his position clearer, revealing that discussions are underway for him to remain with the flagship show until at least 2028.
“I hope I’m continuing, but as I come up to the end of every contract, I seriously consider how it fits the rest of my life,” he says.
“And each time, it’s come down fairly and squarely that I’d like to continue. But there will come a time when either they’ll say, ‘No, thanks’ or I’ll say, ‘It’s time for a change.’ But neither of us, as far as I know, has reached that point yet.”
There is little sign he is slowing down, even after turning 70 last July. True to form, he marked the occasion quietly — in the garden, digging up a fresh crop of new potatoes to share at home with Sarah, his wife of 42 years.
“I’m not one for drama with birthdays,” he says. “It’s just one step nearer the grave.
“I genuinely don’t know what retirement would look like. I don’t play golf or tennis, and I can’t see myself doing the crossword all day.
“Whenever I say to Sarah, ‘Well, thank God, I have no addictions,’ she rolls her eyes and says, ‘You are completely addicted to work!’ But there comes a point in life when saying no is the least interesting option. And in reality, I like work.”
That attitude was shaped by two major influences in his life, starting with his unusual upbringing. Born in 1955 as the youngest of five children, he was sent away to boarding school at the age of seven.
His parents, whom he has described as emotionally distant, would put him to work in the vegetable patch during school holidays from the age of eight. What began as something he deeply disliked slowly transformed over time, as he came to realise that gardening itself brought him a profound sense of happiness.
0 Comments