Amanda Holden was left stunned live on the Heart Radio Breakfast Show when Jamie Theakston revealed that Monty Don, who presents his final Gardeners' World episode on Friday (November 6), was once a jewellery maker who created pieces for Princess Diana and Elton John.
The 71-year-old has been part of the BBC show since 2003, when he took over from Alan Titchmarsh. Before his gardening career, Monty and his wife, Sarah, ran a London-based costume jewellery business, which came to a halt following the 1987 stock market crash.
Revelation on Air
Discussing his final episode, Amanda said: "I wonder who's going to take over, I keep saying Caroline Quentin should do it, she knows all about gardening." Jamie chimed in: "It'll be the end of an era, you know he wasn't a gardener by trade. Do you know what he used to do? He was a jewellery maker and made jewellery for Princess Diana and Elton John."
Stunned by the revelation, Amanda replied: "You're joking?," to which her co-star added: "Him and his wife had a business, and it was only when that went bust he did a gardening slot on [the] Richard and Judy [show] and that's how it all started." Still taken aback, she added: "Oh my Gosh, well that is extraordinary," to which Jamie replied: "And the rest is history."
Business Collapse
Monty has previously spoken about how the financial crash left him and his wife penniless. Once a successful business, they built a team of 20 in-house employees and hundreds of outworkers, with their stock eventually appearing in luxury stores including Harrods and Harvey Nichols. By the end of the 1980s, however, the pair were left with no choice but to "sell everything".
"At the end of the 80s, the business collapsed because of huge interest hikes," he explained. "We lost dollars in America and so we wound it down and in order to wind it down, we basically had to sell everything we had, and I mean everything we had."
New Beginnings at Longmeadow
"So, we were penniless and eventually, for a combination of circumstances, we got enough money to buy a ruin and an empty field which is Longmeadow," he continued to say on the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine podcast. "So, we began this garden and we explored the idea. That's what taught us about colour and colour schemes and how when you're gardening you need to have defined parameters with colour, you can't just chuck everything [in] it looks terrible!"
Monty announced he would be stepping back from Gardeners' World in September, telling fans that "now is the right time for a change". He will continue working with the BBC on other projects, writing books and gardening at Longmeadow with his dogs. Gardeners' World airs tonight at 8pm on BBC Two.
