Monty Don has been happily married to his wife, Sarah, for over 40 years, having tied the knot in 1983. However, their relationship got off to a tricky start, as Sarah was previously married to a botanist, and Monty was a friend of the couple’s.
Monty would spend time with Sarah and her former husband and even went on a riding trip with him - but ultimately he and Sarah fell in love, and she ended her relationship with her husband as a result. Speaking to the White Wine Question Time podcast about the situation, Monty said: "It was obviously complicated. I don't think it was love at first sight. I think it was intense attraction at first sight. Her husband was someone that I rode with and knew very well, and that was the case for about six months where I'd meet them socially.
"I remember thinking in a sort of quite banal way, 'How come that she met him before she met me? Why's the person that you feel strongly attracted to with somebody else? Marriage or not'. It never crossed my mind that it could be anything else. It wasn't like I was trying to pinch someone else's wife - there was no question of that. And then about a year later, our paths crossed and her husband was away for about four months on a field trip. He was a botanist.”
© Nick Harvey/ShutterstockAfter her husband went away on a long trip, they realised that they had a very strong bond. Monty described the months after her decision to leave her husband as a "tormented set-up," explaining: "She chose me and it was for about six months an extremely difficult, unhappy tormented set-up because he obviously was not very happy with that arrangement.
© Jabphotography/Shutterstock"He completely reasonably felt betrayed and very, very, very angry. The point is I've always felt a bit guilty about it, but at the same time, there is a kind of ruthlessness. All is fair in love and war. You can't pussyfoot about. If you decide to be with someone and it means breaking up their marriage, you can't then say 'Oh I feel really bad about this.' No, I don't. I thought it was great, it was wonderful. I'm so glad. I feel sorry for him, but it happened and I'm really glad it happened. I have no regrets at all."
© Richard Young/ShutterstockThe couple got engaged after he proposed in Scotland, and had secretly planned a wedding for less than a week after popping the question, and the pair have been happily married ever since.
