Gardeners' World star has become a household name thanks to his three decades on television screens, but he never expected to become a famous gardener.

Monty, 69, first became interested in at a young age, growing up on a Hampshire property with "four or five" acres of garden. As a result Monty and his brothers often found themselves helping mow the lawns or weed strawberries.

By the time he was a teenager Monty was able to run a vegetable garden or even help pluck chicken or chop wood around his family home. And while he first started in the garden at a young age, Monty admits it took him around 10 years to realise he "really loved gardening".

It led him to spending several months in Aix-en-Provence, , working as a gardener in his late teens. And upon his return to England he attended the University of Cambridge, where he met his future wife Sarah.

The couple eventually settled in London and launched their own costume jewellery business. But even in their twenties, they remained passionate gardeners, something Monty says was "very unusual".

It was a chance encounter at their London home that started Monty's journey to fame, reports . A photographer took a picture of their garden, which eventually led to magazines showing an interest.

Speaking to Garden Illustrated, he said: "In the the 1980s it was very unusual to have a pair of 20-somethings with a nice garden [Monty gardened in London with his wife Sarah].

"It's a long story, but somebody saw our house, took pictures of our garden, and then someone else, and that became a story in itself. And then magazines did articles, and gradually I find myself in the media world.

"And then I got asked to do television, and gave it a go, and found I could do that. And so one thing led to another."

Despite his rising profile, Monty never lost touch with his roots, affirming that he has always been an "amateur gardener" who simply "gardens for love". His big break in TV came in 1989 with a weekly gardening spot on This Morning, which modestly compensated him with £100 per episode.

He rose to further prominence in 2002 when he took over from Alan Titchmarsh as the first self-taught presenter on the iconic BBC programme 'Gardeners' World'.

Initially hosting the show from a hired space in Stratford-upon-Avon, Monty eventually brought viewers into his own pastoral haven at Longmeadow home in Herefordshire after suffering a life-altering stroke. This came during his return to Gardeners' World in 2011 for his second run as host.

Monty's home is set to feature on Gardeners' World at 8pm tonight (Friday, February 21) where viewers will see the horticulturalist making a seating area. Meanwhile Adam Frost explores the garden of U2 bass player Adam Clayton, and Advolly Richmond visits Plas Brondanw Gardens in Gwynnedd.