page_title: Monty Don
section_title: Gardeners' World
hierarchical_section_title: Monty Don / Career / Television / Gardeners' World
caption_attribution_description: English: Monty Don records a piece to camera, at Gardeners' World Live 2012, for his BBC Gardeners' World television show.
context_page_description: Montagu Denis Wyatt "Monty" Don OBE is a British broadcaster and writer on horticulture who is best known as lead presenter of the BBC gardening television series Gardeners' World since 2003.
  Born in Germany and raised in England, Don studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge where he met his future wife. They ran a successful a costume jewellery business through the 1980s which ended in almost complete bankruptcy. Don made his television debut in 1989 as a regular on This Morning, which led to further presenting work across the decade, including his own shows for BBC Television and Channel 4. Don began his writing career at this time and published his first of over 25 books, in 1990. Between 1994 and 2006, Don wrote a weekly gardening column in The Observer.
  In 2003 Don replaced Alan Titchmarsh as the lead presenter of Gardeners' World, only leaving the show in 2008 due to illness before he returned to host from 2011. Since then he has written and produced several garden series of his own; the most recent being Monty Don's American Gardens which aired in 2020.
context_section_description: In September 2002, the BBC announced Don as the new lead presenter of its long-running series Gardeners' World from 2003, succeeding Alan Titchmarsh. Don is the first self-taught horticulturist presenter in the show's history. Don hosted the show until he put his career on hold to recover from his minor stroke in 2008, and the show continued with Toby Buckland filling in as host. During Don's initial stint, viewing figures fell from 5 million to 2 million, this fall being most frequently blamed on the BBC's decision to change the show's format soon after Don's arrival. After viewing figures fell below two million for the first time in 2009, the BBC announced further changes to the programme to entice viewers back. In December 2010, Don announced his return as host for the 2011 series. Reaction to the announcement was divided on the programme's blog.
  Initially Don filmed episodes of Gardeners' World in Berryfields, a rented garden in Stratford-upon-Avon. When he returned as host in 2011, Don began to present from his own garden, Longmeadow. He was frequently seen on screen with his golden retriever Nigel until the dog died in May 2020, shortly before his 12th birthday. In 2016, Don introduced viewers to his new golden retriever, Nell. This was followed by the addition of Pattie, a Yorkshire terrier, in April 2020. In 2020, Don signed a contract with the BBC to continue presenting Gardeners' World for three years.
caption: Don presenting at Gardeners' World Live in 2012
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