Monty Don steps down from BBC Gardeners’ World

Monty Don will leave BBC’s Gardeners’ World at the end of the current series after 23 years as the programme’s head gardener, according to the Evening Standard. The BBC said he will continue presenting from his garden, Longmeadow, until the end of the year, and that he plans to work with the broadcaster on other projects.

Don has been the public face of a show built on a simple production model: one presenter, a garden, and an audience that returns for familiarity rather than novelty. The Standard reports he has made around seven hundred episodes, much of the past 16 years filmed at Longmeadow, turning a private space into a long-running piece of public television. The BBC’s statement, delivered by chief content officer Kate Phillips, praised Don’s “soothing” presence and highlighted his willingness to speak about personal struggles and mental health—language that has become standard in institutional farewells, even when the departure is framed as voluntary.

The exit lands as British broadcasters keep trying to reconcile two competing pressures: a brand that must be managed centrally, and talent whose value comes from being recognisably individual. Gardeners’ World is not a high-concept format that can be swapped in and out without friction; it is closer to a habit than a product launch. When a programme depends on a presenter’s voice and routines, succession becomes a budget question as much as an editorial one: whether to rebuild around a new personality, retool the format, or spread the audience across cheaper digital output.

Don said he will write more books and make more programmes, while continuing to garden at Longmeadow. The BBC said it is “very sad” to see him step down, and confirmed he will remain on screen through the end of the year.