The Gardeners’ World presenter has opened up about a health scare that happened when he was filming a Channel 4 show
Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor and Natalie King
14:27, 08 Oct 2025
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Monty Don was left feeling unwell while filming(Image: Dave Benett, Dave Benett/Getty Images for Killik & Co)
Monty Don, the beloved Gardeners’ World presenter, has revealed a terrifying health ordeal that left him “lying on the floor for hours” after a severe attack of seasickness.
While filming a Channel 4 programme designed to showcase the British Isles by boat, Monty discovered just how vulnerable he is to seasickness, a condition where contradictory messages between the inner ear and eyes can cause nausea, according to the NHS.
During a Travel Diaries podcast episode, Monty shared his most dreadful travel experience with presenter Molly Rubenstein. Monty, who recently advised UK households to do one key lawn job this month, said: “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 told the story of 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 called derisory, ‘there’s such a thing as tides, so I wouldn’t be able to go back in — I’d have to wait for the tides to dock.’”
Monty was left ‘lying on the floor’ due to extreme seasickness(Image: BBC)
Monty described the agonising aftermath: “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 star also shared his experiences from a trip to India, commenting on the infamous effects travel to the country can have “on one’s digestive system”.
He remarked: “There are details I would not wish to share with anybody but they are not good.”
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Monty has been a familiar face on our screens since 1989 when he first appeared on This Morning, providing gardening segments. He’s contributed to numerous gardening programmes for both the BBC and Channel 4, reports the Express.
His most notable role started in 2003 when he took over from Alan Titchmarsh as the much-loved presenter of Gardeners’ World.
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