Monty Don reveals why he’s ‘ready to embrace a quieter life’ after admitting Gardener’s World is a ‘regretless treadmill’

Monty Don has admitted that he is ‘ready to embrace a calmer, slower pace of life’ after recently speaking out about the future of Gardener’s World.

Last year the station hinted at his departure from the BBC show during a Radio Times Magazine Interview, saying: ‘The logical thing to do is to abandon Gardeners’ World, which is, for all its virtues, a treadmill without regrets.’

The 69-year-old presenter, who has hosted the BBC Two show adored by green-fingered amateur gardeners across the country since 2003, said he was considering retiring to pursue other things such as writing and presenting travel programmes.

And now Monty has revealed why he wants to have a “quieter life” and wants to choose work projects on his own terms.

Speaking about the joys of her home-grown produce with Abode2 Magazine, she said: “I don’t tend to work that hard these days, and when I do take on a project, I do it on my own terms.”

He added: “At my age, I’m ready to adopt a calmer, slower pace of life. Watching how life flows in the garden is what really matters.”

Monty also revealed that he never planned to have a career in television and it all happened after he took an unexpected opportunity.

He explained: “I’ve always had this policy in life. If you say no, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what could have happened. If you say yes, you’ll find out.”

In his previous interview with Radio Times Magazine In February, Monty She also spoke about her mental health, confessing: “I’ve suffered from depression for many years, which comes and goes, but it tends to be something that gets worse in the winter.”

Although the presenter assures that he currently feels ‘fine’, he added: ‘I wouldn’t say I’ve healed. I would say I’m healing. It’s an ongoing process.

Monty has been candid about his mental health in recent years, admitting last year in December that his seasonal affective disorder was so severe that his wife Sarah threatened to leave him and their three children if he did not seek help.

The presenter also suffered a minor stroke in 2008 which forced him to stop presenting Gardeners’ World, and he later told the Mail in 2011 that he did not want to be known as “the man who was sick”.

He said: “I don’t work as hard now and when I do things I do them on my own terms. Psychologically, I’ve tried to put it behind me, but yes, I became very aware of my mortality and that was very real.”

Monty spoke to Times Radio ahead of the premiere of his new show Monty Don’s Spanish Gardens, which launched on BBC Two on 23 February.

He described filming the show as “an exciting and fascinating experience” and wrote on his website: “This ‘It was filmed last year when I spent 7 weeks in Spain between April, May, June and October and covers over 40 different gardens.’

‘I found it a stimulating and fascinating experience with stunning gardens and I learned a lot more about the country, despite having visited it many times before as a tourist.

“It looks amazing and I hope you find it as entertaining and rewarding watching it as I did making it.”