Monty Don has a stroke and stands down as BBC presenter

chris

Monty Don has left the BBC television programme Gardener’s World after suffering a minor stroke, he disclosed today.

The 52-year-old has been absent from the show for the past six weeks but no explanation has been provided for viewers until now.

Although the stroke was not a serious one – Don was well enough to visit the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday – he has decided to leave the BBC2 programme permanently in order to concentrate on his recovery.

In a statement, Don said: “I am proud to have led Gardener’s World for the past five years and have enjoyed every minute of sharing my passion with the programme’s viewers.

“I intend to take some gardening leave for the rest of the summer to make a full recovery and so that I am ready to tackle new projects.”

Don was the main presenter of the show and was much-loved by the audience, many of whom have commented on his absence in recent weeks on gardening forums.

The BBC announced the news, saying: “Monty Don has decided to stand down as the main presenter of Gardener’s World. Monty has presented the series for the past five years but has been off our screens for the past six weeks as a result of a minor stroke.

"Although he is making a good recovery he feels unable to commit to regular filming for a while.

“Monty will be sorely missed by viewers and production team. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to work with him again sometime in the future.”

The Corporation will now begin a search for a new presenter. Don followed in the footsteps of Percy Thrower, Geoff Hamilton and Alan Titmarsh when he took over as main presenter in 2003.

Don’s agent, Araminta Whitley, said: “Monty is surrounded by family and good friends and I am absolutely confident that with a break from filming he will make a full recovery. He is doing really well – he was walking around the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday.

“Filming is such a massive commitment, the days are long and you can’t do it half-heartedly. Monty has had a packed schedule in the last couple of years, with Gardener’s World and Around The World in 80 Gardens. He feels it is time for a rest.”

In an interview published a few weeks ago, Don spoke of suffering from bone marrow cancer as a child but said he had been in “robust” health as an adult. “I’ve taken ill health to be an irritating interruption into what is a fairly reliable stream of good health.”

However, the presenter, who lives with his wife and three children in Herefordshire, nearly died last year when he was struck down with peritonitis.

“I said to my director, 'I feel really tired,’ and then woke up in the middle of the night feeling dreadful. My wife found me collapsed. If she had not found me I would have died. I got into an ambulance at 2am and they stuck morphine into my veins,” he said.

Don, who was christened Montague, had a variety of jobs before his passion for gardening made him a household name.

After attending Malvern College and Cambridge University, he worked as a dustman, labourer and waiter, then founded a jewellery company with his wife, Sarah, becoming an author and broadcaster on gardening in the 1990s.

Don has suffered from depression for many years and has taken Prozac in the past. He now relies on gardening to help him through the dark days.

“The first thing I do is to get outside. It doesn’t matter what weather or time of year it is, it is essential to go out of doors,” he has said. “When things are very bad, I can’t do much but I do physically fight it.”

Don, who was christened Montague, has no formal horticultural training and came to the subject late in life.

A troubled teenager, he was expelled from several schools and has admitted to shoplifting and glue sniffing. “If I hadn’t come from a nice, middle class home I’d have been in Borstal.”

He won a place at Cambridge University but after graduating had a succession of jobs including working as a dustman, labourer and waiter, before founding a jewellery company with his wife, Sarah. When that failed, he became a writer and broadcaster on gardening.

SOURCE: telegraph

satellite hobby

Hope Monty makes a quick recovery,and we see him back on our screens.
He will be sorely missed.

Topper

I am confident that there are many on this forum that feel the same way

War does not determine who is right, it determines who is left!

Formerly toppervte33h
whose six pack has turned into a keg

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