'All is fair in love and war'
‘Ruthless’ Monty Don admits he ‘feels great’ about breaking up friend’s marriage after falling in love with his wife
The telly star revealed his friend was 'very angry' when he found out
MONTY Don has said he no regrets about breaking up a friend’s marriage after falling in love with his wife, insisting “it was great”.
The Gardeners' World star, 68, became enamoured with now wife Sarah while she was already married to a wealthy botanist - at the time socialising with both her and her husband and even going riding with him.
3
3
But when her then husband went away for work, Monty and Sarah fell for each other and she eventually decided to finish with her husband.
Speaking openly about the situation, Monty explained on the podcast: "It was obviously complicated. I don't think it was love at first sight. I think it was 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 where I'd meet them socially.
"I remember thinking in a sort of quite banal way 'How come that she met him before she met me? Why's the person that you feel strongly attracted to with somebody else? Marriage or not'.
Read More on Monty Don
"It never crossed my mind that it could be anything else. It wasn't like I was trying to pinch someone else's wife - there was no question of that.
"And then about a year later, our paths crossed and her husband was away for about four months on a field trip. He was a botanist.”
He described how their relationship was platonic at first but they both soon realised there was more to it than that.
Sarah was determined not to have an affair and made the decision to leave her husband.
Most read in TV
Monty added: "She chose me and it was for about six months an extremely difficult, unhappy tormented set up because he obviously was not very happy with that arrangement.”
Monty went on to explain how his friend reacted, saying: "He completely reasonably felt betrayed and very, very, very angry.”
Despite the upset, the gardener stands by their decision, saying: "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'.
"No I don't. I thought it was great, it was wonderful. I'm so glad.
"I feel sorry for him, but it happened and I'm really glad it happened. I have no regrets at all."
He later proposed on a rowing boat in Scotland, refusing to row back to land until Sarah changed her mind after she at first said she wasn't sure, then he secretly booked the marriage for less than a week after returning home - giving Sarah 48 hours' notice.
But he also said there had been tough times in their marriage, with Sarah at one point threatening to leave him with their three children because of his depression if he did not seek help.
Monty did get help and the pair have now been married for 40 years.
3
Topics