Monty Don has announced he is stepping down from Gardeners' World, leaving fans devastated. In an Instagram video, the beloved gardener said: "I have a big piece of news to share with you because I have decided that this is to be my last series of Gardeners' World. I began hosting Gardeners' World 23 years ago and for the last 16 years we have been here at the garden of Long Meadow and it has been fantastic and I have loved every minute."
He added: "I've worked with amazing people and it's been a joy to share my gardening life and my dogs with you but it's time for a change. So no doubt new adventures in the future but for the moment it's the end of a chapter."
Jewellery business collapse
Before becoming Britain's favourite horticulturalist, Monty, 70, and his wife Sarah Erskine ran a fashionable jewellery boutique called Monty Don Jewellery during the 1980s. At the peak of its success, pieces were sold in prestigious retailers worldwide, including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Liberty, and the boutique was featured in Vogue. Their clientele included Boy George, Michael Jackson, and reportedly Princess Diana.
In a 2005 piece for The Independent, Monty reflected: "Costume jewellery has its value entirely from its design and appearance, not from the cost of its materials. Our jewellery is still in the VandA. When we were flying, we were really flying. At our best, we were the best in the world at what we did. But we were never quite as successful as our publicity convinced other people - and ourselves - that we were. We were hopelessly under-capitalised and borrowing constantly."
Struggle with 'unhealable' depression
Everything shifted after the 1987 Wall Street financial collapse, with the duo losing their entire fortune. In their joint 2004 memoir The Jewel Garden, Monty candidly discussed their bankruptcy, noting they felt "like lambs to the slaughter" and were forced to sell "every stick of furniture" at Leominster Market. Sarah recalled: "A bad situation got worse every day. The banks wanted their money and started to bounce our cheques whilst simultaneously adding their charges - and interest on them - to the tally. Of course, it could not go on. Something had to give. As it turned out, that something proved to be our shop, our business, our savings, our furniture - and our home."
Following this pivotal moment, Monty began experiencing what he described as "unhealable depression", which deteriorated to such an extent that his children asked: "Why is daddy always crying?". Recalling how he sought assistance, Monty said: "[In the end] I went to see a healer. I can't remember if he was an herbalist, acupuncturist, homoeopath or white-coated faith healer, but I liked him. He had me abstain from tea, coffee and alcohol and described my various symptoms with unerring accuracy. [...] After a few months of this puritanical regime they told me I was unhealable."
The healer suggested that Monty's path back to contentment lay in reconnecting with the natural world, advice that has since developed into an enormously successful career. Discussing his mental health during a BBC interview, Monty said: "I have for many years, suffered from depression, which comes and goes but tends to be something that is worse in winter. And, touch wood, it's been much better for the last few years. But for me, the benefits of nature are all about the physical connection with the rhythm of the natural world. Some of that rhythm is bleak – winter is cold. And yet even if inside you are bleak and grey and cold, if you believe that spring will blossom inside you, as well as outside in the garden, that's powerful. So that's how it works for me."
