Monty Don has candidly shared his feelings about the beginning of his relationship with his wife=, admitting he "felt a bit guilty" about how they met. The beloved BBC Gardeners' World host tied the knot with wife Sarah Erskine in 1983. They have been through their fair share of ups and downs, including the collapse of their jewellery business in the 1980s.
The horticultural expert, who took over from Alan Titchmarsh on the popular gardening programme in 2003, recently opened up about the challenges he and Sarah faced. Reports surfaced about Monty's romance with Sarah, which began when she was still married to her first husband, a botanist. Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast in 2023, Monty revealed that he experienced an "intense attraction at first sight" towards Sarah and expressed "no regrets at all" about how their love story unfolded, despite the initial guilt.
He firmly believes that "all is fair in love and war". In a heartfelt recollection shared with the Telegraph, Monty reminisced about returning home from boarding school at the tender age of seven to find his garden in full bloom, a moment he likened to having "missed Christmas ", yet he didn't view it as a loss. Later on, that very childhood would stir up deep nostalgia in him a mere barley field could bring about an "incredible pang" of longing.
Monty disclosed: "Once, in my twenties, Sarah and I were driving out of London to Kent past a field full of barley. It's a very subtle distinction but barle.