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Gardeners' World star Monty Don leaves fans in tears with heartbreaking update

The Gardeners' World star lost his dog, Nigel, in May 2020

monty don
Eve Crosbie
TV & Film Writer
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Gardeners' World star Monty Don and his fans were left deeply saddened back in 2020 when his dog Nigel, who made regular appearances on the BBC gardening show, sadly died.

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And over the Bank Holiday weekend, the horticultural expert shared a new photo of his beloved companion's grave, which left fans heartbroken all over again. "Fallen blossom on Nigel's grave," he captioned the post, which showed Nigel's final resting place covered in delicate white blossom petals.

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Fans quickly flocked to the comment section. With one writing: "Sweet wonderful boy. He would be pleased to know that Nellie is doing a good job on GW each Friday with you Monty."

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Another said: "Nigel lives on in every corner of Long Meadow. Bless him. We all miss him," while a third added: "Sweet boy, remembered with love." Many more simply commented crying face emojis to express their sadness.

monty don dog nigel grave© Photo: Instagram

Monty shared the new photo of Nigel's grave which left fans heartbroken all over again

The golden retriever, who became a surprise star of the BBC Two gardening programme and even received his own fan mail, passed away in May 2020 after suddenly falling ill. Following his death, Monty paid tribute to his "old friend" on social media, revealing that Nigel was "happy, healthy and his usual calm, lovely self" right up until the end.

monty don dog nigel© Photo: Twitter

Nigel sadly passed away in May 2020

Since Nigel's death, viewers have become acquainted with Monty's other two dogs he shares with his wife, Sarah – a golden retriever named Nellie and a Yorkshire terrier named Patti.

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Speaking about his love of dogs on his website, he writes: "I have lived with dogs all my life and so it is absolutely natural to me that wherever I am in the garden I should be accompanied by a dog or two. It is their garden as much as mine or any other members of the family."

He continued: "Something that I take for granted is that, by and large, they do absolutely no damage and respect the garden completely. They (rarely) dig holes or crash through the flower beds. They do treat the long paths as bowling alleys down which they career in chase of the ball that we are obliged to throw, but it is harmless enough."

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