Monty Don shares plans to quit Gardeners’ World at 70

Monty Don demonstrates how to plant tulip bulbs

Monty Don has shared his plans to quit Gardeners’ World admitting he would need to “give up something” when he turns 70.

Monty, who has been the face of the BBC series since 2003, hinted in a new interview that he will stand down from the show in two years’ time.

Speaking to Jane Garvey and Fi Glover on Times Radio, the much-loved horticulturist described presenting the show as a “remorseless treadmill”.

“But I mean, the serious point is I will be 70 in two years’ time,” Monty explained.

“Will I want to go on? I like making television programmes, I like writing books. To have the energy to do that and not scrabble, always that sense of scrabbling.

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“I think I have to give something up and I’m not prepared to give up writing and I really enjoy the travel stuff I do.

“So therefore the logical thing to give up is Gardener’s World, which is, for all its virtues, a remorseless treadmill.”

The Gardeners’ World star went on to say the BBC would have to “think ten times” before hiring a white, middle-class and middle-aged man like him.

He continued: “I mean, what one would like is to feel that they hire the best person, whoever that was.

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“And regardless, you know, in a truly just and fair society, we wouldn’t care what someone’s colour or race or creed or sex was.

“But the truth is that it’s much more delicate and I think that I’m absolutely persuaded that in order to include everybody, you have to open doors that either are or seem to be shut.

“And if the door is perceived to be shut then it is shut even if actually you think it’s not.

“You know, I mean, I come from a middle-class Oxbridge background. Every door is open to me and has been all my life. It’s an incredibly privileged class.”

He added: “But if you’d asked me at any stage of my life if I was privileged I would say, ‘Of course not. No, no. I’m just like anybody else’. And that’s just not true.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Monty chatted about his new book and how he hopes it encourages younger people to garden.

He explained when he was a child, his parents encouraged him to help out in the garden so that as a reward, he could go and play.

You can listen to Monty’s full interview on Time Radio.

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