Monty Don has been presenting Gardeners' World since 2003, so it came as a shock to viewers when he recently announced his plans to retire from the iconic show.
The gardener, who is now 68, shared the upsetting news in an interview with The Guardian, explaining he wants to make more documentaries as well as conserve his time and energy. He revealed he plans to leave "within the next five years."
Fans were understandably saddened by the news, commenting: "My heart sank when I read it, and its sinks lower every time I read it again," and: "The day he leaves Gardeners' World will be a very sad day."
© Graham Stone/ShutterstockA third noted: "I think GW would be greatly diminished without Monty, he is most certainly the calm captain at the helm but all the other gardeners are lovely too."
Others mused that Adam Frost is in line for the role, with one person speculating: "When Adam presented a few programmes and moved to the big house in the country and set out on reviving the gardens it looked like the writing was on the wall, but it's not clear who will carry the crown. Adam still has my vote."
Who will take over from Monty Don?
Though Monty is the star of the show, Adam Frost is very popular among Gardeners' World viewers, but Monty has designs on someone different altogether taking over his hosting duties.
"I would like to think the next Gardeners’ World presenter ideally would be female, would represent either singly, or in multiplicity, the diversity in this country, that has at least some urban context," Monty told The Guardian, explaining that it's unrealistic to imagine the next host would have such a large garden as his, which is often the main focus of the TV show.
© Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock"I think all that leads to it not being just one garden anymore, because if it is one garden, it’s got to be a big one. And it probably has to be in the country, and the further you get into the countryside, the less diversity there is," Monty continued, musing about the future of the show.
"The world’s changing; we need to change with it. In many ways, it’s likely I’m the last middle-aged, middle-class white male with a large garden doing Gardeners’ World. Which is fine."
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Though Monty plans to step down from the show, he will certainly continue gardening in his spare time as it helps him manage his depression and SAD, which has been debilitating in the past.
"Being busy helps,” Monty says. "My wife always says the best thing for my mental health is being successful, and she doesn’t mean that as a compliment.
© Nick Harvey/Shutterstock"I know what she means – people saying nice things about you and puffing your ego tends to make you feel a bit better, up to a point."
We have no doubt that whether he's presenting Gardeners' World, writing books or keeping his fans updated on his gardening via his blog, people will be saying nice things about him for a long time yet!
