Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don has revealed the unconventional start to his relationship with his wife, Sarah Erskine, admitting he felt 'terrible' after falling in love with her while she was still married to another man.
The BBC gardening expert, who married Sarah in 1983, said they first met at Cambridge University when she was already in a relationship. The couple eventually wed at Finsbury Registry Office in London after a proposal on a remote Scottish island.
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast in 2023, Monty said: 'We got married in Finsbury Registry Office and then had this lunch in L'Escargot, and that was it, we never had a honeymoon.' He added that it was not love at first sight but an 'intense attraction'.
Sarah had married at 19, and when her wealthy botanist husband went on a four-month field trip, she and Monty grew closer 'in a completely platonic innocent way'. Eventually, she left her husband, leading to a 'difficult, unhappy tormented set-up'.
Monty admitted feeling 'a bit guilty' but said: 'All is fair in love and war. You can't pussyfoot about. If you decide to be with someone and it means breaking up their marriage, you can't then say: Oh I feel really bad about this.'
