Monty Don and leaving GW - disappointing interview

[LaughterintheRains]

Has anyone else heard or read his interview about how he plans to leave GW?
I feel differently about him now. He's clearly not enjoying it- referring to the 'relentless treadmill' of it. But it's only 6 months of the year anyway and for the rest of the time, he's giving talks on cruises, writing books and making TV progs in faraway places.

I guess what I'm saying is he gives the impression each week of enjoying the programme, yet now he's said he is a bit fed up with it. So I don't feel the same about him anymore.

He also said they needed a new presenter, ideally female, with a more diverse background, not Oxbridge educated, middle class male. I think that's discriminatory at best (should be the best person for the job) but also, his predecessor was Alan Titchmarsh who didn't go to any uni (but trained in horticulture. )

He was evidently pissed off when Don got the job as a 'non-expert hobbyist gardener'. And before that, Geoff Hamilton was not Oxbridge.

I've always had a lot of time for MD (and his MH struggles) but this time I think he's talking out of his and it won't be the same watching the next series knowing he doesn't really want to be doing it.

Beechgrove!

I really like Monty. It has felt for a little while that he is winding down from the show with the missing weeks. I know he has been filming elsewhere, his Italian gardens series was wonderful.

I for one would love Frances to be lead presenter. Although her garden is small, she has access to the huge one she works for. I wonder if they'd allow it to be used in the programme?

I love the viewers videos seeing what they are doing and they have given me lots of ideas over the year.

I also love how Monty is very conscious about the damage certain commonly used garden materials are damaging the countryside. I think it's important that people new to gardening know this information and can help make things better and better for all of us.

We also doubt we would have learnt about new gardening methods from the older style gardener presenters of my grandads generation.

This has really made me laugh. My DH has a banana plant and is currently growing a pineapple amongst a few other odd bits and bobs. I get stuck with the boring plants like the onions and rhubarb.

My current GW bingo is when we visit someone else's garden and it's a man who loves tropical/jungle plants. It's every bloody man! Even the ones with otherwise more traditional gardens have a bloody great incongruous banana in the middle of the border. I'm convinced it's something to do with penises.

😂😂. Yes I should have qualified my statement about liking viewers’ gardens except for the men obsessed with priapic tropical plants!

It's a programme about gardening. If you want a show about only about plants, then watch a david Attenborough.

It's as important to show how accessible gardening is as it us to tell you when to plant your peas.

You're still receiving all the information about plants and about gardening, what does it matter to you if the presenter has no arms or is black?

(Do I really need to explain why racial diversity is important?)

He’s fed up with presenting GW, so the BeeB are paying him to swan round America on expenses and talk about their gardens.

I’m sure all us licence fee players are very pleased. 🤬

It's a repeat from 2020.

I'm thrilled, it's a lovely series. The Adriatic Gardens series was great too. I loved them last time and will enjoy watching them again.

I mean, you do get that all presenters are paid for doing their jobs?

I do find it very weird that some people are so resentful that someone who is nearly 70 would be thinking of giving up a job that must virtually rule their life, whether they have a team of gardeners or not (and frankly surely anyone with a garden that size must have help).

Maybe they want to go off and spend even more time in Wales, or even sell Longmeadow?

I am very happy for my licence fee to be spent on sending people abroad to look at gardens I wouldn't otherwise get to see and show them to me later on via the magic of TV. But you crack on with your BBC-bashing.

I am all for diversity on gardening programmes. I have worked as a professional gardener in the past and it is a very white, male world. It's much better than it was but like a PP points out, you need only read James Wong's twitter feed to see the appalling racism that people of colour in horticulture have to endure, and I don't doubt that Arit gets plenty of it too. I and other female gardeners have experienced sexism and harassment from (male) members of the public that shocked our male colleagues.

And as for the plants, they need someone to look after them. Gardens need gardeners. And gardeners are a very diverse bunch.

Delighted with his overseas garden programmes thanks, worth the license fee alone as they're so beautiful and comforting, and show me gardens I'll probably never see in person.

What are they supposed to do with the licence fee? Only ever film in the UK? Then bbc haters would complain they're paying to see stuff they don't need a passport for lol

The licence fee is phenomenally good value:

• A number of TV channels
• Lots of radio stations
• Some of the best programming
• Impartial journalism (when both the Left & the - Right complain about bias, you know they're doing something right)
• valuable career development/training & entry opportunities for those without experience
• encyclopedia of accessible online knowledge
• gcse bitesize

...and that's just off the top of my head.

Wonder how much per year the bbc haters pay for their Netflix, prime, apple TV and Disney subscriptions...