Beloved British horticulturist and Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don has opened up about a little-known chapter of his childhood, revealing that he was diagnosed with marrow cancer at just ten years old in a candid conversation that left his interviewer visibly stunned.
The 70-year-old television favourite made the disclosure during an appearance on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, where he also spoke about his family, including his twin sister Alison, who suffered a near-fatal car accident at age 19 that left her with a broken neck and blindness. She went on to make a full recovery, later marrying and having children.
It was Don’s own health revelation, however, that brought the conversation to a halt. When Brandreth asked about a childhood illness, Don confirmed he had been ten years old at the time of his diagnosis.
“Ten! Oh my gosh,” Brandreth responded, according to the Daily Express.
Don recalled that the ordeal began without any obvious warning signs. “I was playing football at school, fell, and hurt my elbow. It was very, very painful,” he said. He was taken to the hospital the following day for an X-ray, but at the time had little understanding of what was actually being discovered.
It was only years later that the full weight of what had been found became clear — a tumour consistent with marrow cancer, also known as multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that affects the bones and other parts of the body.
Just before Christmas that year, Don was taken to the hospital to have the tumour surgically removed. “They had found something in the X-ray — what they found was a tumour. I have the scar. They took the bone out and scraped the marrow out. It was marrow cancer,” he said.
The timing of the discovery, he explained, was fortunate. “Luckily, it hadn’t spread,” he said. “[The doctors] said if it had been six months later, it could have gone to the rest of my body. That wouldn’t have been very good.”
Don underwent a year of radiotherapy and made a full recovery, though he described the experience as one of the loneliest periods of his life.
The presenter has hosted Gardeners’ World since 2003, taking a brief break in 2008 following a minor stroke before returning to screens fully recovered. His willingness to speak openly about his health has long endeared him to audiences across Britain.
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