Gardeners’ World favourite Monty Don, 67, has brought some much-needed light to a sad day for Brits, following the Queen’s death yesterday. The star took to Instagram this evening to share that he had found an adorable “replacement” for his beloved late dog Nigel, who tragically died in 2020.
Nigel’s death prompted an outpouring of grief from Gardeners’ World viewers at the time, as they had become accustomed to seeing the golden retriever following Monty around at Longmeadow on the show each week, with their bond being clear to see.
Monty brightened the day of many of his 1.1 million social media followers, as he introduced them to his “irresistibly charming” new family member, a golden retriever puppy.
The BBC gardener could be seen grinning from ear to ear as he cuddled his new pet, who was making puppy dog eyes at the camera.
He captioned the sweet picture by acknowledging the emotional nature of the day, after Buckingham Palace confirmed Queen Elizabeth II had died on Thursday afternoon, at the age of 96.
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Monty poignantly penned: “On a day when we are sharing a deep sense of sadness and loss, I went to choose the new bright innocent and irresistibly charming member of our family, replacing Nigel.
“He will be joining us next week. I haven’t told Nellie or Patti yet…,” he quipped, in reference to his two other pet pooches.
It wasn’t long before Monty’s fans flocked to the comments to thank the presenter for cheering them up during the national period of mourning for the monarch.
linda_gls1 commented: “He is adorable, thank you for bringing a smile at this sad time. Hope Nellie and Patti like him!”
hharteneck agreed: “Not replacing Nigel surely ….. but a new companion to share the great life Nigel had. The Queen would approve.”
redkatsun suggested the pup should be named after the new King of England, commenting: “You have to call him Charles @themontydon.”
Nigel died in May 2020, six days before his 12th birthday.
The Gardeners’ World host explained at the time that the golden retriever had tragically suffered from “violent fits all night” before his death.
Opening up about how difficult it was to work while worried about Nigel, Monty recalled his conversations with the vet, telling the Griefcast podcast: “So I filmed Gardeners’ World with this going on and all day phone calls were coming in saying, ‘We’ve tried this drug and it’s not working’.
“Finally, the drug they used was the drug they used to put dogs down in a small dose and they said, ‘To be honest, we should just up the dose and that will end it.
“He’d had a brain tumour, and at that moment the tumour had grown.”
