Gardeners’ World star Monty Don has opened up about the start of his relationship with his wife, Sarah Erskine
17:15, 08 Nov 2025Updated 17:16, 08 Nov 2025
Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don previously opened up about the unconventional start to his relationship with his wife, Sarah Erskine, admitting he felt “terrible” after falling in love with her while she was still married to someone else.
The BBC gardening expert, who wed Sarah in 1983, revealed the pair first met at Cambridge University when she was already in a relationship. The couple, who now have three grown children and several grandchildren, eventually married at the Finsbury Registry Office in London, following a proposal on a remote Scottish island.
“We got married in Finsbury Registry Office and then had this lunch in L’Escargot, and that was it, we never had a honeymoon,” Monty revealed during an appearance on the White Wine Question Time podcast in 2023.
He continued: “I don’t think it was love at first sight. I think it was an intense attraction at first sight. Her husband was someone that I rode with and knew very well, and that was the case for about six months when I’d meet them socially.”
The gardening legend admitted he questioned: “‘Why did she cross paths with him before me? Why is the individual you feel magnetically attracted to with someone else?'”, reports the Express.
Monty Don and his wife had a difficult start(Image: CHANNEL FOUR)
Monty insisted he never set out to pursue another man’s wife, saying it wasn’t something he consciously considered.
Sarah had married for the first time aged just 19, and when her wealthy botanist husband embarked on a four-month field trip, she and Monty developed a closer bond “in a completely platonic innocent way”. As their feelings grew stronger, she faced a tough choice.
The Gardeners’ World star explained: “You know that thing when you’re very attracted to somebody you don’t go too close to them, or you don’t dare show too much interest or whatever. It turned out that we both felt the same way. But she was married to someone else and so it was very difficult.”
Sarah decided to leave her husband, resulting in a “difficult, unhappy tormented set-up”.
Monty and Sarah have three children together(Image: Colin McPherson, Corbis via Getty Images)
Monty said: “She decided that she absolutely didn’t want to sort of have an affair. She chose me and it was for about six months an extremely difficult, unhappy tormented setup because he obviously was not very happy with that arrangement. He completely reasonably felt betrayed and very, very, very angry.”
Whilst Monty acknowledges feeling a “bit guilty” about taking another man’s wife, he has no regrets about his actions.
He stated: “The point is I’ve always felt a bit guilty about it but at the same time there is a kind of ruthlessness.
“All is fair in love and war. You can’t pussyfoot about. 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’.”
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