At 69 years old, BBC Gardeners’ World star Monty Don is a national treasure whose calm demeanour and gardening expertise has inspired millions.
However, behind the famed horticulturalist’s successful career as a television presenter and author lies a family life marked by tragedy and resilience.
His rise to the top of his career to hold the title of the most popular gardener in the UK has been largely self-made; after developing a sense of stoicism when tragedy struck his family when he was just a child.
The green-fingered expert suffered from bone-marrow cancer, an illness that left him a ‘sickly child.’
He told later told The Guardian that It wasn’t until he reached adulthood that he realised he was a ‘robust, vigorous person. ‘
Behind famed horticulturalist Monty Don’s successful career as a television presenter and author lies a life marked by hardship, tragedy, and resilience
Monty – the youngest of five children alongside his twin sister, Alison – revealed his upbringing was further complicated by a strained relationship with his ‘very strict’ parents, who both died young.
His father Denis, a former commando and army heavyweight boxing champion, was a ‘frightening figure’ who would suffer from ‘deep depressive fits.’
Speaking to The Times in 2020, Monty described his father as a ‘scary man’ who had ‘killed people’ in war, but was ‘not in any way aggressive’.
The TV presenter added: ‘You didn’t mess with him and he had these deep depressive fits when he wouldn’t talk to anyone.’
Recalling his teenage years, Monty admitted that his mother once asked him to remove the bolt from his father’s gun because she feared he was suicidal.
However, he expressed gratitude for the values his parents instilled in him, despite their tricky times together.
Tragedy struck again in Monty’s early adulthood when his twin sister, Alison, was severely injured in a near-fatal car crash at the age of 19.
Monty pictured with his twin sister, Alison, as babies, held by their mother, Janet Wyatt
Monty’s twin sister, Alison, was severely injured in a near-fatal car crash at the age of 19, but ‘miraculously recovered’ (pictured, Monty and Alison as children)
Monty’s father Denis (pictured), a former commando and army heavyweight boxing champion, was a ‘frightening figure’ who would suffer from ‘deep depressive fits’
Monty and his his wife Sarah enjoyed success running a costume jewellery business – until the stock market crash of 1987 devastated their finances and left them on the brink of bankruptcy
Working as a gardener in France at the time, Monty was summoned home by a brief but urgent telegram: ‘Come home. Alison accident.’
Alison’s neck was broken, and she faced the possibility of permanent blindness – yet, through multiple surgeries and immense strength, she made a ‘miraculous’ recovery.’
Monty told HELLO!: ‘She made what was deemed a miraculous recovery and got the use of one eye back, after endless operations, and one hand, and could walk with a stick and went on to get married and have children.’
As he entered his 30s and settled down with his wife Sarah, the couple turned their attention to running a costume jewellery business. However the stock market crash of 1987 devastated their finances and left them on the brink of bankruptcy.
By 1991, the couple – who share children Freya, Adam and Tom – were forced to sell their home for a fraction of the price, along with most of their possessions.
The financial strain took a toll on both their physical health, leaving Monty unemployed and the family relying on benefits by 1992.
In their joint memoir The Jewel Garden, Monty reflected on this difficult time, writing: ‘My mother died and left me enough money for a deposit on a house, and we found our current house.
‘It was obviously lovely, but without water, electricity, sanitation or any interior walls and, as it turned out, a roof that was about to slide off.’
He added: ‘It was declared unfit for human habitation, and we rented a rat-infested farmhouse nearby. These were the bad times.’
Despite these challenging years, Monty and Sarah persevered, with the horticulturalist going on to take over from Alan Titchmarsh as the host of Gardeners’ World in 2003.
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