Gardeners’ World star Monty Don has given a rare insight into his life at home with his wife Sarah, admitting that she never calls him Monty.
During a recent conversation with Michael Parkinson on the talk show host’s YouTube channel, the green fingered guru revealed how he likes to keep his life on TV separate to his time spent at home with his wife: “When I’m at home, I’m Montagu, and my wife, for example, has never called me Monty, my mother never called me Monty, I’m always Montagu.”
Whilst revealing that there is a difference in what he is known as publicly compared to privately, the gardening expert gave further insight into how he tries to differentiate between the two personas: “It’s a completely separate life, my home life has no connection with my public life at all in so much that, you know, there’s no need for them to cross over.”
The gardening icon is however, extremely grateful for the opportunities that his TV work has given him down the years: “But the enrichment is there, the fact that I’ve had the privilege to go all over the world, and talk to so many people, and see so many amazing gardens, it’s something that I never would have had the opportunity to do and that feeds into my home life.”
Meanwhile, the Gardeners’ World star recently pleased fans of the show as he revealed to the Radio Times that he has extended his stay on the popular programme: “I never make plans beyond two years, but I’ve agreed to do another two (from January 2025),”.
He added: “Every time I think, ‘Am I really going to do this?’ But the truth is that I do enjoy it. I’m lucky because it’s in my own garden. If the programme is made well, I’ll continue.”
Monty has become a popular face in the gardening world down the years as the horticulturist has earned spots presenting on the likes of ITV’s This Morning where he hosted his own gardening segment from 1989. But, perhaps his biggest achievement came in 2003, when he replaced fellow gardening aficionado, Alan Titchmarsh on the BBC’s Gardeners’ World.