Monty Don is to step down as the host of Gardeners’ World after more than 20 years, the BBC has announced. <\/p>\n
The 71-year-old, who is the programme’s longest-serving head gardener, will leave at the end of the current series.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Don said working on the show had been a “deeply rewarding experience,” but added: “Now is the right time for a change.”<\/p>\n
The BBC said Don had “inspired and guided millions of viewers with his warmth, wisdom and passion for gardening” since joining the programme in 2003.<\/p>\n
Don began presenting the programme at Berryfields, a rented garden in Stratford-upon-Avon, before it moved in 2011 to his own garden, Longmeadow in Herefordshire. <\/p>\n
“Throughout that time – and around 700 programmes – I have had the privilege of sharing my own abiding passion for gardens and gardening with an equally passionate, and often equally knowledgeable audience,” he said.<\/p>\n
“That connection with millions, not just in Britain but across the world, who share a love of gardens, plants and the natural world is something I have always treasured and which I increasingly believe to be at the heart of a life well lived.”<\/p>\n
Don added he had “always relished the craft of programme making” and paid tribute to the “superlative BBC team” he worked with over the years. <\/p>\n
“I look forward to continuing to work with and for the BBC on other projects, as well as following new avenues,” he concluded. “And of course, I will still be gardening, dog by side, here at Longmeadow.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monty Don is to step down as the host of Gardeners’ World after more than 20 years, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-764248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}