Monty Don's Gardeners' World replacement 'set to be fan-favourite frontrunner'

Monty Don’s departure announcement from Gardeners’ World has left fans in despair, wondering who could take up the beloved horticulturalist’s mantle after 23 years at the helm.

Frances Tophill, who has contributed to the show for more than a decade and presents the programme when Don is away, has been hailed an “early frontrunner”, with odds of 13/8.

“It’s the end of an era for Gardeners World fans with Monty Don stepping back from presenting the show and the speculation about who’ll replace him is beginning to grow,” William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps said.

Monty Don announced he is leaving Gardeners’ World

Getty

He went on: “The early front-runner at 13/8 to head up the next series of Gardeners’ World is Frances Tophill. She’s very well-established on the show and looks like being given a chance to bloom as host.”

Also in the running is her colleague and seven-time Chelsea Garden Show gold medallist Adam Frost, who has a 2/1 chance of being the next host and has been called an “obvious contender”.

Frost - who has been filling in for Don since 2016 - last year touched on whether he would like to succeed Don one day.

“I'm comfortable being the supply teacher,” he told The Sunday Times.

“Besides, my gut says that when his lordship hangs up his trowel, it won't be any one person. There will be a small group of co-presenters."

Other potential presenters include contributors Arit Anderson at 9/1 and Joe Swift at 12/1, with Rachel de Thame coming in at 14/1 and Jamie Butterworth being given a 20/1 chance.

Garden designer Frances Tophill

PA Media

True to Frost’s prediction, the bookmaker also quotes a 5/1 price that the show will function without a lead presenter for its next series, while former Groundforce stars Charlie Dimmock (50/1) and Alan Titchmarsh (100/1) are less likely to land the job.

Announcing his exit, Don said: "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.

“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."

Don also confirmed the move via an Instagram video with his beloved Golden Retriever, Ned.

Adam Frost in his new garden on Gardeners' World

BBC Studios

He has been recovering after having a “horribly painful” knee replacement last November and previously said he will likely have another operation in late 2027.

The BBC presenter admitted in April that he was struggling to film Gardener’s World at his Herefordshire home Longmeadow due to the procedure.

“I was finding by the end of a day’s filming I could barely walk upstairs and I certainly couldn’t take the dogs for a walk,” he told Saga magazine.

“It was severely limiting what I was doing. I did it so I could keep on working because it was getting to the point where filming was cutting round me limping.”

Don went on: “However you do it, a knee replacement is horribly painful. But three months on I’m gardening again and haven’t walked with a stick for a month.

“Sarah [his wife] says I’ve been doing far too much stuff, but it’s fine and going to plan – though it can be inexplicably painful one day and then not at all another. At some point, I’m going to have to do the other one – but only when I can fit it in, probably late 2027.”