Jeremy Clarkson weighs in on Gardeners' World revamp
Jeremy Clarkson has given his thoughts on who should replace Monty Don on Gardeners' World - and insisted he hopes BBC bosses will make the show more like The Grand Tour.
Jeremy Clarkson has given his thoughts on who should replace Monty Don on Gardeners' World.
The gardening expert has confirmed he is walking away from the BBC show after spending 23 years as the lead host and Clarkson has now insisted producers behind the show need to take inspiration from the upcoming return of his motoring series The Grand Tour, which is being rebooted by Amazon with a new presenting line-up following the departure of Clarkson and his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May.
In his column for The Sunday Times newspaper, Clarkson wrote: "Despite [my own gardening] ineptitude, I do watch Gardeners’ World and that’s why I was sad this week to hear that after 23 years, Monty is leaving the show.
"And I’m even sadder now because I’ve realised he will have to be replaced, and I have the most horrible feeling that whoever gets the gig will not be the sort of person who wears corduroy. The material of choice for anyone with a safe, gentle pair of hands."
He went on to insist he's worried the new host will not be hired for their gardening expertise and claimed the show should follow The Grand Tour as all three new hosts - Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland - are knowledgeable about cars.
He added: "As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s been a trend in recent years for television shows to be presented by 'characters'.
"People with regional accents who wear brightly coloured jumpers with rainbows on them. People who think that being zany is the same as being funny.
"There’s also a trend to hire people who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It’s one of the things that’s made the new hosts of The Grand Tour work so well: they do."
Clarkson went on to explain: "What they need to remember is that Gardeners’ World is a show about gardening, for sure, but it’s also a state of mind. It’s pixelated comfort food, a shepherd’s pie in a world full of kebabs at one end and preposterous cherry and yoghurt espuma at the other ...
"I recently implored the people charged with bringing Top Gear back to make a show the BBC hates, a show that will never win a Bafta, or get a good review in The Guardian.
"And I’m now begging whoever’s been given the job to do the same thing with a post-Don Gardeners’ World."
Monty, 71, who first joined the BBC show in 2003 as its presenter and Head Gardener, confirmed his exit last week and revealed he will instead turn his attention to other projects, including future BBC projects and books.
The star said in a statement: "I have decided that the current series of Gardeners’ World is to be my last. I began hosting the programme 23 years ago, first at Berryfields and for the past 16 years here in my own garden, Longmeadow.
"Throughout that time - and around seven hundred programmes - I have had the privilege of sharing my own abiding passion for gardens and gardening with an equally passionate, and often equally knowledgeable audience.
"That connection with millions, not just in Britain but across the world, who share a love of gardens, plants and the natural world is something I have always treasured and which I increasingly believe to be at the heart of a life well lived.
"I have also always relished the craft of programme making and to do so, week in week out, as part of a superlative BBC team has been a deeply rewarding experience.
"But now is the right time for a change. "I look forward to continuing to work with and for the BBC on other projects, as well as following new avenues. There are more books to write, more programmes to make.
"And of course, I will still be gardening, dog by side, here at Longmeadow."
