'Less likely' Monty Don issues warning over future of shows after BBC licence fee freeze

Twitter to post a fake report as the nation await's Sue Gray's findings about Downing Street's lockdown parties.The post subsequently went viral, leading Joe to issue a heartbreaking statement today, explaining his reasonings for his "anger" at the government that led him to post what he did.The comedian issued a statement this evening on his Twitter in view of his 994,200 followers, explaining his recent actions.He penned: "I catfished (sort of accidentally) Nadine Dorries and then supposedly catfished (sort of accidentally) the whole government."I wrote some jokes on Twitter, some dumb people (some in our government) found them plausible rather than funny and now I'm in most newspapers."The comedian then took to justify his actions in his statement as he felt "anger" towards the government.Joe continued: "I write comedy sometimes as a way of using anger. I write a daft letter about a parking fine or change my name to Hugo Boss or fake a Sue Gray report, all essentially because I'm angry."I'm angry right now probably for the same reason many other people are angry."In the early stages of lockdown in 2020 my best friend died from cancer."He was the person who had been with me through my journey in comedy the most closely; he had been to the smallest pub gigs all the way up to the Apollo and when I was first on Graham Norton."He had been ill for a number of years and towards the end, I had helped as a part-time carer."I watched him slip away, gradually, over months, and all that comes with it.

James Bond on BBC Radio 2 with Zoe Ball. As the conversation went on, the star came to the conclusion that Monty Don was actually the best man for the job. Speaking to Zoe about his new children’s book Rockstar Detectives, the pair got on to the subject of Adam’s recent MBE. The Australian presenter received the award in the New Year Honours list for his services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness. After Zoe congratulated The Last Leg presenter on his MBE, the comedian shared a surreal moment when he received his letter confirming the award.He said: “So the weird thing is, they send you a letter about a month beforehand saying, ‘Do you accept and would you like to be put forward blah blah blah…’ “But the letter had on it stamped ‘On Her Majesty's Service’ - and for a second I thought I might be the new James Bond.”“So wonderful! I think you could carry it off,” Zoe joked.

Monty Don has taken to Twitter to pay tribute to his former BBC colleague Jana Bennett, who died of brain cancer on January 11.

Former Channel 5 Director of Programmes Dawn Airey has been appointed Interim Chair of Channel 4 and will likely steer the network through the upcoming privatization decision.

Naman Ramachandran The pioneering Young Audiences Content Fund, funded by the U.K. government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), will conclude its three-year pilot program on Feb. 25.The fund offered up to 50% of the budget of programs aimed at children and young people from U.K.

Monty Don is now a household name. Yet, as his BBC show Adriatic Gardens continues to pull in the ratings, a message on Twitter reminded him that life hadn't always been quite so easy.The exchange had begun with author and podcast presenter Ian Dunt tweeting to his 352,000 followers that if he could get a tattoo of any film quote, it would be: "Monty, you terrible c***.""I’d probably shie (sic) away from that particular line," Monty fired back.Then gardening enthusiast @Hungoverdrawn joined the conversation to reveal an extract the exchange had "put him in mind of" from Monty's 2006 book Growing Out Of Trouble.Featuring his efforts to rehabilitate drug addicted youngsters by setting them to work in the garden, the book quote recalls: "I asked Chubby about being caught in possession of speed."Bit of a c***, Mont, he said."You certainly are, I said.

READ MORE: Monty Don bids farewell in "personal conclusion" to BBC seriesMeat Loaf has died at the age of 74, his family confirmed in a statement. The iconic rocker and star of Rocky Horror Picture Show had battled health problems for many years and even had to have "emergency back surgery". TMZ claimed earlier today that the singer did not attend a business dinner for his new show earlier this week.

Monty Don, 66, did not appear to be in good spirits when he took to Twitter last night to hit back at an account that asked him not to share his political views with fans online.Their tweet came after the BBC star utilised the social platform to share an opinionated piece about Prime Minister Boris Johnson by The Guardian.In the essay, writer Max Hastings asserted that Boris “is utterly unfit” to be the head of the government in the UK before going on to claim that he “cares for nothing but his own fame and gratification”.Along with a link to the article, Monty wrote in view of his 247,000 followers: “Every word is prescient.“I was Boris Johnson’s boss: he is utterly unfit to be prime minister | Max Hastings”And while the tweet received well over 1,300 likes, the Twitter user @HughNTJohnson didn’t seem to agree with the Americans Gardens author’s decision to use his social media account to discuss political matters.“No politics Monty, you work for BBC, tax payers don’t need to pay for opinions, just gardening,” they wrote.Clearly unamused by the remark, Monty tweeted out a fiery response, starting off with laying things bare on his working relationship with the Beeb.“For the record I don’t work for the BBC- i work for myself,” he wrote. (sic)“And I wasn’t aware you paid to read my comments on twitter.“However I defend to the death your right to disagree with them and express your own views- on any subject.”The user later apologised to Monty for their comment.Max laid into Boris in his opinionated piece, adding that while he’s known him since they both worked at the Daily Telegraph in the 1980s, the 57-year-old was deemed more of an entertainer than a solid candidate to be running for national office.And according to Max,

Monty Don took to his official Twitter page on Wednesday to make it known that he's been working on writing a new book about the Venetian Gardens.The 66-year-old, who has written a handful of successful books throughout the years, said in view of his 247,000 followers that working on his latest project had occupied a great amount of his time."There is a wren in my workroom with me as I write (working on Venetian Gardens)," he tweeted."It has been here all morning and seems to like burrowing behind my books and files even though the window is wide open for it."Other than the cold, I am rather enjoying its company."A Twitter user named @SunnyHavenfrm went on to respond to Monty's tweet, asking whether there's a chance he'll be working on a book about the Florentine gardens.Sadly, the TV star had to disappoint his fan, insisting that writing a book about the Florentine gardens was not part of his upcoming project."Don't hold your breath…" he said."(But wrote 'Great Gardens of Italy' 12 years ago, which does include a few Florentine gardens)."The father-of-three was referring to his 2011 BBC Two show Monty Don's Italian Gardens.In the four-part series, Monty travelled through Italy as he travelled to find the most significant gardens."I've seen the astonishingly grand gardens of Rome, made by cardinals," Monty said on the programme.For over two decades, Monty has written a string of gardening books, including The Complete Gardener, Paradise Gardens, The Jewel Garden and Gardening at Longmeadow.His most recent book release was 2020's My Garden World, the same year he would release American Gardens.The Chelsea Flower Show star made his highly anticipated return to BBC Two earlier this month with the premiere of his new show

Afternoon subscribers, Max Goldbart here. It’s been a busy week but International Insider has you covered. Read on for in-depth analysis of the biggest international headlines of the week.

“7pm BBC2 (an hour earlier than the previous programmes).”The clip was a ranging view of the garden he has most recently worked on on the show.Fans were then quick and eager to jump on to the post to join Monty in a mutual farewell.@Leerotherham said: “It's been a great watch, I particularly enjoyed the formal gardens in Venice.”@AlexandrosG wrote: “One of my favourite islands, I used to spend wonderful days there especially during childhood.”@Fumisnan put: “Looking forward to watching this, it looks stunning.”Monty explained earlier this week that the future of his shows are looking “less likely” due to BBC’s license fee freeze.This comes after culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced changes yesterday.The horticulturist explained what the license fee freeze meant.Monty wrote: "Although there is a debate to be had over the extent and duration of the licence fee, the government freeze will save payers the grand sum of 15 pence per week over the coming year."However it will mean that programmes like Adriatic Gardens will be much less likely to be made," he warned his fans.Once again, many of the gardener’s followers took to Twitter to express their admiration for his shows.Jo Mirzoeff told the star: "Adriatic Gardens is an absolute joy and worth the licence fee all on its own.”Jo and Sky Woodhouse commented: "I think that will be a tragedy and it’s the thin end of the wedge, it’s not just the wonderful tv, like your Adriatic series, but also the radio, think of Radio 4 for example.”Joyce Jordan added: "I would rather pay the licence fee than risk losing quality programmes like Adriatic Gardens."And many other shows I love on the BBC especially GW." (sic)

BBC director general Tim Davie has said that the freezing of TV licence fees will cost the broadcaster £285million.Davie said the new settlement, set to stop the cost of licence fees increasing for the next two years, “will affect our frontline output” and prompt cuts across services and content.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said of the decision yesterday (January 17): “The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users.”“Inevitably, if you don’t have £285million, you will get less services and less programmes,” Davie subsequently told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (January 18).“Now, I still think the BBC can offer extraordinary value for £13 a month.”Regarding potential cuts to accommodate for a stagnating licence fee until 2024, Davie continued: “We go first to those cuts where we don’t affect our output…We are not at the place where you can never make cuts, but this will affect our frontline output. There’s no doubt about that.”He went on to acknowledge the BBC “[needs] to reshape ourselves for a digital age”.“The media market is moving extremely rapidly,” he added.

Dan Walker has defended the BBC after it was hinted that the license fee would be scrapped. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted about plans to overhaul the funding model for the BBC, revealing that the next announcement about the fee would "be the last".The annual payment usually changes on April 1 of each year, however, reports suggest that it will be frozen at the rate of £159 for the next two years.

EXCLUSIVE: As the BBC dominates the headlines and the future of the licence fee is placed in doubt, another major British public broadcaster Channel 4 looks set to have to wait longer to discover the fate of its own future-defining government decision on privatization.

Monty Don, 66, has uploaded a new picture to Instagram, where he enjoys a following of 979,000, as he showed off his scenic garden. Along with the snap, the Gardeners’ World star included a “warning”.The photograph featured the outline of his neatly trimmed trees against a bright pink sky.He captioned the image: “Shepherd’s warning."The saying Monty made reference to - “Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” - means the good weather has passed ahead of a low-pressure system coming in.Fans of the horticulturist and broadcaster promptly took to the post’s comment section as they discussed the meaning behind the phrase.Twitter user, Sunshine.love.smilesandpaws commented: “Spectacular photo! You need an exhibition of your art.”Sillymilliedog said: “That is such an amazing sky! Fantastic shot.“Just looked this up as I’ve never heard the saying.

BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years.

Boris Johnson’s sudden move to freeze the BBC licence fee, and possibly abolish it altogether, have been branded an act of “cultural vandalism” to distract from the partygate scandal engulfing his government.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has confirmed the Conservatives ' snap plan to abolish the BBC licence fee, in what was branded as a "pathetic" attack on journalism.

The BBC licence fee will be frozen for the next two years by the UK government before returning to an inflationary rise, which will likely cripple the corporation’s programming budgets.

Monty assured viewers that the Mediterranean climate is not an essential part of recreating an Italian garden at home.Carol said: “Italian design is really big on unity, which is the repetition of materials and shapes, the simplicity makes the design bolder and more calming.“The use of natural materials celebrates the beauty of controlled nature through evergreens, water and stone.“There is really strong symmetry in the design of the space, which might be mirrored with just one line of symmetry running down the centre or can be more complex where it folds on itself in 90 and 180 degree angles.”She reassured fans that there were ways to recreate the Mediterranean feel without having the necessary climate to match.She explained that the process involves using evergreens as low hedges for a low maintenance garden.In full, the expert said: “To create the feel in the UK we can borrow the idea of using evergreens as low hedges to borders or to create topiary notes combined with coloured gravels to create a rain permeable low maintenance garden.”Carol added that eye-catching features such as pools or plinth bases were helpful for creating the Italian feel.

The next announcement about the BBC TV licence fee "will be the last", the Culture Secretary has said, amid reports it will be frozen for the next two years.