For decades, television personality and horticultural expert Monty Don has captivated audiences with his gardening wisdom on BBC's Gardeners' World. However, the beloved presenter has now disclosed a painful decade-long health struggle directly linked to his passion for gardening, admitting he ignored crucial medical advice that led to severe consequences.
A Decade of Deterioration and Disregard
In a candid revelation published in BBC Gardeners' World magazine, the 70-year-old star confessed to battling persistent knee problems for over ten years. Monty Don explained that his condition gradually worsened due to years of demanding physical activity, including kneeling, carrying heavy loads, and running on hard surfaces.
"For the last 10 years or more my knees have been giving me the gyp and, it turns out, slowly deteriorating," Monty wrote. "I have spent 70 years kneeling on them, asking them to stagger about under unreasonably heavy loads or, until 10 years ago, pounding around tarmacked roads. They have had a long, hard time of it."
The Fateful Doctor's Visit
The gardening icon recalled visiting his physician when knee troubles first emerged. His doctor reportedly remarked drily that knees were "appallingly badly designed" before prescribing painkillers and advising Monty to cease digging activities. Remarkably, the presenter admitted to ignoring both aspects of this medical prescription entirely.
This decision proved costly as Monty's condition progressively impacted his professional work. "You will have rarely seen me do much serious digging, and never kneeling, over the past few series - by the end of a day's filming, I could barely hobble to the end of the garden," he revealed, describing how the pain affected his television performances.
The Surgical Reality Check
Only last summer did Monty Don finally undergo proper medical scans and consult with a surgeon, receiving the unexpected diagnosis that both knees required complete replacement. This came as a particular surprise since he had operated under the assumption that only one knee was significantly damaged.
Despite the challenging prospect of bilateral knee surgery, Monty maintains an optimistic outlook about his recovery. Drawing a characteristically earthy comparison, he stated: "The important thing…is that I shall be able to do things again, to get stuck in and crack on….with a fair wind and thanks to superb surgical skills, I should, like my beaten-up old Defender, keep ploughing on a bit longer."
Broader Health Transparency
This knee revelation represents just one aspect of Monty Don's increasing openness about health matters. The BBC presenter has previously discussed his experiences with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition where mental health fluctuates with seasonal changes.
On the Gardeners' World podcast, Monty shared personal coping strategies, including dedicating one weekend day weekly to solitary gardening. "It's a kind of treat I give myself," he explained, while clarifying that even gardening with his wife typically means being in the garden simultaneously rather than working collaboratively.
Monty Don's story serves as a poignant reminder about the importance of heeding medical advice, even for passionate professionals whose work defines their physical lifestyle. His decade of preventable pain underscores how dismissing professional guidance can lead to extended suffering and major surgical interventions that might have been avoided with earlier compliance.
