Monty Don makes his final appearance on BBC's Gardeners' World on Friday, November 6, marking what has been called the "end of an era" after 23 years with the programme. The 71-year-old has hosted the show since 2003, when he succeeded Alan Titchmarsh.
While Don is best known for his horticultural expertise, presenter Jamie Theakston left his co-host Amanda Holden stunned during a live broadcast on the Heart Radio Breakfast Show by revealing details about Don's earlier career.
A Surprising Past Revealed
Before Gardeners' World, Don and his wife Sarah ran a costume jewellery business in London, which collapsed following the 1987 stock market crash. Theakston shared this background on air, saying: "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."
Amanda Holden, visibly taken aback, replied: "You're joking?" Theakston 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."
Financial Collapse and a New Beginning
Don has previously spoken openly about how the financial crash left him and his wife in difficulty. Their business once employed 20 in-house staff and hundreds of outworkers, with products stocked in upmarket retailers including Harrods and Harvey Nichols. By the close of the 1980s, however, the couple were forced to "sell everything".
"At the end of the 80s, the business collapsed because of huge interest hikes," Don explained on the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine podcast. "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."
He continued: "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. 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!"
Looking Ahead
Don announced in September that he would be stepping down from Gardeners' World, telling fans that "now is the right time for a change". He will remain involved with the BBC on additional projects, writing books and tending to his garden at Longmeadow with his dogs.
Gardeners' World airs tonight at 8pm on BBC Two.
