Matthew Biggs, a long-standing panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, has made his final appearance on the show, revealing that he does not know how much longer he has left to live. The gardening expert, who has been a fixture on the programme since 1994, has been living with cancer since 2020 and is now receiving palliative care.
During the episode, broadcast on Friday afternoon during Mental Health Awareness Week, Biggs spoke openly about the toll his terminal illness has taken on his mental and physical wellbeing, as well as the struggle to let go of gardening. “I’m trying to get on with everything, and enjoy Gardeners’ Question Time while I can because I will lose my faculties,” he said. “I hate the thought of not being able to speak, to smile, to communicate.”
Biggs, who was born with cerebral palsy, reflected on his lifelong resilience: “I’ve always been knocked down and had to get up. I’ve always had this thing that every cloud has a silver lining, and if there isn’t one then you make one.” He added, “I don’t know how long I’ve got to live.”
The programme was recorded at The Serge Hill Project in Bedmond, Hertfordshire – a garden space created on the belief that working with nature can radically transform people’s health and wellbeing. During the episode, Biggs described the physical changes he has experienced: “The most difficult bit was when my mobility disappeared, and I’ve just sort of wasted away. I’ve lost so much weight. It’s just muscle and bone. But I wouldn’t recommend this as a weight loss diet… don’t do it.”
He also spoke about the emotional challenge of relinquishing his garden to his wife Gill. “The garden I reluctantly let go to my wife Gill, like really reluctantly, and still feel a reluctance because that’s letting go of my life. But I’ve looked at it now and I’m seeing somebody else doing something with it and that’s what happens. Gardens… they just roll on.”
Biggs has been awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH), the most prestigious award granted by the Royal Horticultural Society, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to horticulture. In recent years, he has become a passionate advocate for gardening as a tool for wellbeing, and during his cancer care has spoken openly about the solace he has found in gardening. He has been involved in redeveloping a garden space at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire, creating a restorative environment for patients, staff and visitors.
Biggs was accompanied at the recording by his wife Gill, and daughters Chloe and Jessica. Mohit Bakaya, controller of BBC Radio 4, said: “Everyone at Radio 4 is deeply grateful to Matthew for everything he has given to Gardeners’ Question Time over the years. He has been an extraordinary contributor and a true ambassador for Radio 4 in the horticultural world. This programme, recorded at The Serge Hill Project, feels like a fitting and moving way to celebrate his time with the show. Our thoughts and warmest wishes are with Matthew and all his family.”
