Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has opened up about a health scare he suffered while filming a Channel 4 programme, which saw him ‘lying on the floor for hours’
Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor and Natalie King
12:26, 08 Oct 2025
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Monty Don was filming a Channel 4 show at the time(Image: BBC)
Monty Don, the beloved Gardeners’ World presenter, has revealed a distressing health ordeal that left him “lying on the floor for hours” following a severe attack of seasickness.
Recently, Monty also spoke about the blunt warning he once gave a co-star regarding the impact that fame can have on a relationship.
Whilst recording a Channel 4 programme exploring the British Isles by boat, the 69-year-old discovered his vulnerability to motion sickness — an ailment caused when the brain receives conflicting signals from the inner ear and eyes, according to the NHS.
During an appearance on the Travel Diaries podcast with presenter Molly Rubenstein, Monty recounted his most dreadful travel experience, admitting: “I get very seasick — I’m really bad at sea.
“Funnily enough, the smaller the boat, the more I like it, so big boats don’t do it for me.”
He went on to detail his nautical nightmare: “We were filming, I was doing this travel thing around Britain for Channel 4 and, realising after half an hour that this wasn’t going to end well, [I was] trying to bribe the captain to go back to port.
“He said ‘well, even if I accepted your offer’, which he said was derisory, ‘there’s such a thing called tides, so I wouldn’t be able to go back in, I’d have to wait for the tides to dock’.”
Monty said he begged the captain to turn back(Image: GETTY)
Monty outlined the agonising consequences: “So I spent hours lying on a floor next to a bucket, just desperately, with the crew laughing. So that was pretty low on the list.”
The gardening expert also recalled a trip to India, where he fell ill and noted the country’s well-known effect on travellers’ digestive systems.
He said: “There are details I would not wish to share with anybody but they are not good.”
Jamie Oliver confesses ‘I couldn’t afford it’ after parents’ huge decision
Alan Carr forced to reunited with ex-husband for devastating reason
Monty has been a familiar face on television since 1989, when he first appeared on This Morning delivering gardening advice. He has since fronted numerous gardening series for both the BBC and Channel 4.
His most notable role began in 2003, when he succeeded Alan Titchmarsh as the presenter of Gardeners’ World.
Comments are closed.