Yahoo News Gardeners’ World’s Monty Don has no regrets about 'pinching friend’s wife'
Monty Don talks about what it was like falling in love with a married woman
Gardeners' World star Monty Don has worn his heart on his sleeve as he detailed how he fell in love with his wife Sarah now, who was already married when they first met.
Looking back on his love life now, Monty Don - who is considering retiring after 34 years from Gardeners’ World - has said in a new interview that he has no regrets about "pinching" the wife of his friend with whom he used to go riding.
The gardener told White Wine Question Time podcast: "The point is I’ve always felt a bit guilty about it, but at the same time there is a kind of ruthlessness. All is fair in love and war. You can’t pussyfoot about. If you decide to be with someone and it means breaking up their marriage, you can’t then say, 'Oh I feel really bad about this'."
So does Don feel bad about it? He further explained: "No I don’t. I thought it was great, it was wonderful. I'm so glad. I feel sorry for him but it happened and I’m really glad it happened. I have no regrets at all."
When did Monty Don meet his wife?
Don and Sarah first met at Cambridge University but by that time she was already married. Five years before their first meeting, Sarah got married at the age of 19. Her first husband was a botanist and he asked her to marry him when he was going on a three-year trip. Don explained that in "those days there was no question of her going with him unmarried".
When Don and Sarah met for the first time, the gardener said he felt an "intense attraction" - although it was not "love at first sight". He added: "It was obviously complicated. I don't think it was love at first sight. I think it was an intense attraction at first sight. Her husband was someone that I rode with and knew very well, and that was the case for about six months where I'd meet them socially.
"I remember thinking in a sort of quite banal way 'How come that she met him before she met me? Why's the person that you feel strongly attracted to with somebody else? Marriage or not'. It never crossed my mind that it could be anything else. It wasn't like I was trying to pinch someone else's wife - there was no question of that."
How long has Monty Don been married?
In their love story, Don and Sarah tied the knot 40 years ago in 1983. While the BBC star doesn't often share pictures of his wife, he marked a major milestone in their marriage last year. Alongside a photograph of their wedding day, he reminisced on their love.
He wrote on Instagram at the time: "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." The gardener had proposed to his wife on a rowing boat in Scotland.
Monty Don’s family life
Don and Sarah live at their beautiful home in Herefordshire and have created a spectacular garden they call Longmeadow, where they have lived happily since 1992 with their dogs. Gardeners’ World fans will be very familiar with his garden as he often presents the show there and he posts all about it on his Instagram page.
They have brought up three children together - two sons Adam and Tom as well as their daughter Freya. Seeing his children Adam and Tom become parents has been remarkable for the star and he said becoming a grandfather was a huge milestone in his life.
In 2022, he told The Times: "Well, it makes life interesting. Having grandchildren is one of the great landmarks of anybody's life. I think that all the things one reads about it and talks about it are true. It's pleasure without responsibility.
"It's more than that though. What I find moving is my children — obviously, I changed their nappies and looked after them and drove them to school and failed and failed and failed again as a father, as one does. They are now starting that journey and that process and very tenderly. My two sons are wonderful fathers."
