While many Gardeners’ World fans are familiar with Monty Don‘s stunning Tudor property in Herefordshire, they rarely catch a glimpse of his personal life.
However, when the cameras stop rolling, he enjoys a quiet life surrounded by shrubs and trees in the countryside – with his wife of 40 years, Sarah Don.
Although she is rarely seen, Sarah plays a vital role behind the scenes, supporting her husband through tough times. She was the one who urged him to seek help when he was suffering from depression after they lost their business.
Speaking on the Gardeners’ World podcast in 2022, Monty described her as an ‘entirely supportive partner in crime,’ despite them occasionally arguing about their Longmeadow home.
‘One of the things I always say privately and I should say publicly at every opportunity, it’s her garden as much as mine,’ he gushed. ‘This is not my garden, it’s our garden. It’s “We” always.’
Although she is rarely seen, Sarah (pictured with Monty in 2016) plays a vital role behind the scenes, supporting her husband through tough times
The couple met when they were studying at Cambridge University but Sarah was already married. Above: The couple in 2004
The couple first laid eyes on each other in their mid-twenties whilst studying for their undergraduate degrees at Cambridge University.
But Monty admitted that it was not ‘love at first sight’ for the couple, given that Sarah already had a husband and had tied the knot at 19 years old.
‘I don’t think it was love at first sight. I think it was an intense attraction at first sight,’ he said during a chat on the White Wine Question Time podcast in December.
‘Her husband was someone that I rode with and knew very well, and that was the case for about six months when I’d meet them socially.’
As the duo’s feelings for each other deepened, Sarah made the difficult decision to leave her husband for Monty.
He added: ‘She decided that she absolutely didn’t want to sort of have an affair. She chose me and it was for about six months an extremely difficult, unhappy tormented setup because he obviously was not very happy with that arrangement.’
And while the gardener admits to feeling a ‘bit guilty’ about the situation, he said he does not regret anything.
‘The point is I’ve always felt a bit guilty about it but at the same time there is a kind of ruthlessness,’ he said.
In 1983, Monty later proposed on a rowing boat in Scotland, refusing to row back to land until Sarah changed her mind after she at first said she wasn’t sure. Above: The pair pictured in 2010 in the Maldives
‘All is fair in love and war. You can’t pussyfoot about.’
In 1983, he later proposed on a rowing boat in Scotland, refusing to row back to land until Sarah changed her mind after she at first said she wasn’t sure, then he secretly booked the marriage for less than a week after returning home – giving Sarah 48 hours’ notice.
They tied the knot in their late twenties on July 29 and are due to celebrate their 41st anniversary in the coming weeks.
In 2022, Monty took to Instagram to worship his wife on their anniversary and stated that their love is just as strong as it was all those years ago.
The creased picture shows the young curly-haired gardener smiling alongside Sarah who had short blonde hair at the time.
He wrote: ‘We got married 39 years ago today – the picture is a little faded, a little wrinkly, like us but the love is as evergreen and strong now as it was all those years ago.’
Following their nuptials, they welcomed their children Adam, Freya and Tom, who are now grown up and are believed to have kids of their own.
In the 1990s, Monty and Sarah ran a store named Monty Don Jewellery, which focused on costume jewellery.
The married duo did well for themselves and had their brand stocked in Harrods and Harvey Nichols, along with being worn by the likes of Boy George and Michael Jackson.
But following the Wall Street financial crash of 1987, the couple lost everything and he opened up about this experience in his 2004 autobiography The Jewel Garden.
Monty said they felt like ‘lambs to the slaughter’ after their bankruptcy and were left selling ‘every stick of furniture’ they owned at the market to raise extra cash.
Sarah wrote in the book: ‘A bad situation got worse every day. The banks wanted their money and started to bounce our cheques whilst simultaneously adding their charges – and interest on them – to the tally.
‘Of course, it could not go on. Something had to give. As it turned out, that something proved to be our shop, our business, our savings, our furniture – and our home.’
Despite their closeness, Monty said this was a particularly rocky time in their marriage, with Sarah begging him to get help for his depression.
In the 1990s, Monty and Sarah ran a store named Monty Don Jewellery, which focused on costume jewellery but it fell through when the market crashed in 1987. Above: The married duo pictured in 2010
When asked what his favourite smell was, Monty was quick to say the nape of Sarah’s neck (both pictured in 2004)
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast, he said: ‘We lost everything. There was one point when Sarah said “Look I just can’t take any longer your moods and your black depression, you’ve got to do something about it, because if you don’t I can’t live with you, and I’ll take the children and I’ll go.
”It’s not that I don’t want to live with you, it’s not that I don’t love you, but I just cannot cope with you” and the fact that we were in this rented horrible house, we had no money, I had no work, she had three little children.
‘And I did go and see a doctor.’
Opening up about his mental health struggles during an interview with the BBC, Monty said he has suffered from depression for many years and that it comes and goes but tends to be worse in the colder, winter months.
‘Touch wood, it’s been much better for the last few years,’ he said in 2020.
After losing his jewellery business, Monty went into broadcasting, having had experience writing for various other publications about nature and gardens and his wife supported him every step of the way.
Sarah has since gone down the route of becoming an author, switching her attention to publishing books such as The Home Cook.
But although they are in different realms, they share the same love for nature and sometimes bicker over plans for their garden at Longmeadow.
‘Every significant decision, and quite a few insignificant ones, are made by the pair of us in agreement and we have this principle that both of us have a veto over everything,’ he told the Gardeners’ World podcast two years ago.
‘It’s a very good way to run a system because what it means is, if you disagree, and we do a lot, you can’t do it and say “Live with it.”
Sarah has since gone down the route of becoming an author, switching her attention to publishing books such as The Home Cook, whilst Monty became a gardening broadcaster after their business went bankrupt (both pictured in 2017)
‘You might have terrible rows, you might have a lot of persuading, it might mean negotiation.
‘It might take two years before that plant goes in the ground, but when it does you’ve agreed.
‘But by and large, we generally agree and sometimes it happens that you agree for a quiet life and then, really irritatingly, you realise they were right all along.’
When it comes to declaring their love and devotion for each other, Monty does not shy away.
In a series of quick fire questions with the Guardian in 2018, the broadcaster was asked what his favourite smell is and he said: ‘The nape of my wife Sarah’s neck.’
In a more recent interview with the outlet last year, Monty was told he has been dubbed one of the UK’s sex symbols – something that made him blush.
‘I feel slightly embarrassed, sort of smirky. My wife would say: ‘Look at you smirking at that question,’ he said.
‘I’ve been living with somebody for 43 years, who I love more and more, so on one level, it’s so irrelevant as to be silly. On another level, I’m human – I’d rather that said about me than not.
‘But I can’t tell you how insular my life is outside work. I go in the garden. I see a few people every day, usually the same people. I like them very much and not one of them thinks I’m remotely sexy.’
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