Monty Don, the beloved presenter of BBC’s Gardeners' World, has shared openly about the complicated beginnings of his marriage to Sarah Erskine. The couple met at Cambridge University and later married in 1983, building a family that now includes three grown children and several grandchildren.
Monty reminisced about their wedding day, saying, “We got married in Finsbury Registry Office and then had this lunch in L’Escargot, and that was it—we never had a honeymoon.” His proposal took place on a secluded Scottish island, setting the stage for their lifelong partnership.
However, their relationship had a complex start. Monty revealed that Sarah was married to someone else when their attraction began. “I don’t think it was love at first sight. It was an intense attraction,” he explained, noting that Sarah’s first husband was someone he knew well and even rode with socially.
READ MORE: Police Appeal to Tesla Driver After Fatal Three-Car Crash in Hereford Area
READ MORE: BBC Countryfile’s Adam Henson Opens Up About Wife’s Illness and Mental Health Struggles
The situation brought Monty considerable inner conflict. “I questioned, ‘Why did she cross paths with him before me? Why is the person you feel magnetically attracted to married?'” Despite these thoughts, Monty maintained he never intended to pursue a married woman.
Sarah had married young at 19, but when her first husband went on a four-month field research trip, she and Monty’s friendship deepened in a purely platonic way—at first. As their feelings grew, Sarah faced a difficult decision. “It was very difficult,” Monty said. “She absolutely didn’t want an affair—she chose me.”
The choice led to a “very unhappy, tormented” six-month period, marked by understandable anger and feelings of betrayal from Sarah’s husband. Monty admitted to carrying some guilt over the situation but emphasized a pragmatic outlook: “All is fair in love and war. 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.'”
Monty Don’s candid reflections show the emotional complexity behind relationships and the difficult decisions love sometimes demands.