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Monty Don has admitted he is ‘ready to embrace a quieter, slower pace of life’ after he recently opened up about the future of Gardener’s World.
Last year the broadcaster hinted at his departure from the BBC show during a Radio Times Magazine interview, saying: ‘The logical thing to do is give up Gardeners’ World, which is, for all its virtues, a remorseless treadmill.’
The presenter, 69, who has hosted the BBC Two show beloved by green-fingered amateur-gardeners across the nation since 2003, said that was considering bowing out to pursue other other such as writing and presenting travel shows.
And now Monty has revealed why he wishes to have a ‘quieter life’ and wants to choose work projects on his own terms.
Speaking about the joys of his home-grown produce with Abode2 Magazine, he said: ‘I don’t tend to work quite so hard these days, and when I do take on project, I do them on my own terms.’
Monty Don has revealed why he is ‘ready to embrace a quieter life’ after admitting back in February that Gardener’ World is a ‘remorseless treadmill’
Speaking about the joys of his home-grown produce with Abode2 Magazine, he said: ‘I don’t tend to work quite so hard these days, and when I do take on project, I do them on my own terms’
He added: ‘At my age now, I’m ready to embrace a quieter, slower pace of life. Watching garden life flow by, what it’s all about.’
Monty also revealed he never planned to have a career in television and it all happened after he took an unexpected opportunity.
He explained: ‘I’ve always had this policy in life. If you say no, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what might have happened. If you say yes, you’ll find out.’
In his previous interview with Radio Times Magazine in February, Monty also opened up about his mental health, confessing: ‘I have, for many years, suffered from depression, which comes and goes but tends to be something that is worse in the winter.’
Although the presenter claims that he currently feels ‘fine,’ he added: ‘I wouldn’t say I have been healed. I’d say I am being healed. It’s an ongoing process.’
Monty has been candid about his mental health in recent years, having admitted last year in December that his seasonal affective disorder was so bad that his wife Sarah threatened to walk out on him with their three children if he did not seek help.
The presenter also suffered a minor stroke in 2008 that forced him to step down from presenting Gardeners’ World, and later told the Mail in 2011 that he didn’t want to be known as ‘the man who was ill.’
He said: ‘I don’t work so hard now, and when I do things I do them on my terms. Psychologically, I’ve tried to put it behind me but, yes, I became very aware of my mortality and that was very real.’
He added: ‘At my age now, I’m ready to embrace a quieter, slower pace of life. Watching garden life flow by, what it’s all about’
Monty also revealed he never planned to have a career in television and it all happened after he took an unexpected opportunity
Monty was speaking to Times Radio ahead of the premiere of his new show Monty Don’s Spanish Gardens, which launched on BBC Two on February 23.
He described filming the show as ‘an exhilarating and fascinating experience,’ writing on his website: ‘This was filmed last year when I spent 7 weeks in Spain across April, May, June and October and covers over 40 different gardens.’
‘I found it an exhilarating and fascinating experience with stunning gardens and learned so much more about the country – despite having visited many times before as a tourist.
‘It looks incredible and hope you find it as entertaining and rewarding watching it as I did making it.’
