{"id":971381,"date":"2026-05-19T16:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/971381\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T16:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:36:24","slug":"bbc-gardeners-world-star-joe-swift-slams-bbc-and-david-beckham-in-chelsea-flower-show-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/971381\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Gardener’s World star Joe Swift slams BBC and David Beckham in Chelsea Flower Show rant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Swift has presented Gardener’s World on TV for more than two decades \u2013 but now he’s unleashed an extraordinary rant against the BBC and this year’s Chelsea Flower Show<\/p>\n

16:53, 19 May 2026Updated 16:59, 19 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Gardening guru Joe Swift has dug into the BBC and Chelsea Flower Show(Image: We Love TV)<\/p>\n

Gardening guru Joe Swift has dug into the BBC and Chelsea Flower Show<\/a> after being dropped from the presenting team after 24 years.<\/p>\n

King Charles<\/a> and Queen Camilla<\/a> were joined by Sir David Beckham<\/a> on Monday to launch the star-studded week-long festival<\/a>. But Gardener\u2019s World star Joe, 60, says he had to apply to the Royal Horticultural Society for a ticket for this week’s VIP gala, held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, despite his decades covering the event. He said: “I have been going to Chelsea for 30 years. I worked 24 years of them filming and I split up with the BBC<\/a> on my 25th year. That was a long schlep.”<\/p>\n

Formerly co-anchor of the BBC\u2019s coverage of the show, alongside Monty Don<\/a>, fans complained on social media when Joe was replaced by presenters Rachel de Thame and Arit Anderson. Speaking on his podcast, The James and Joe Garden Show – which he fronts with garden designer and RHS vice president James Alexander-Sinclair – Joe was scathing about younger presenters. He said: “You can\u2019t trust the young. They get obsessed with gimmicks, not real gardening<\/a>, horticulture and good design.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: King Charles teams up with Sir David Beckham and stars to launch Chelsea Flower Show<\/a>READ MORE: Royals show off a new favourite high street handbag at Chelsea Flower Show<\/a>\"Monty<\/p>\n

He was formerly co-anchor of the BBC\u2019s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show, alongside Monty Don(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

On the episode entitled Chelsea Flower Show 2026: The Secrets the BBC Won’t Tell You, he also took a swipe at a new garden designed by Frances Tophill<\/a> and championed by King Charles, Sir David Beckham<\/a> and Alan Titchmarsh.<\/p>\n

He said, sarcastically: “David Beckham, that famous garden designer…and he will take all the credit. He will bend it like Beckham. “<\/p>\n

Catering for presenters at the event also received a tongue-lashing. He said: \u201cThe catering used to be amazing. My kids used to come and they didn’t even look at a garden. They used to just sit there just working their way through breakfast, lunch and dinner. That all got cut back a few years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

He took a swipe at a new garden designed by Frances Tophill and championed by King Charles, Sir David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh(Image: POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And Joe criticised the less than fragrant toilets at the RHS show, saying: “It is the chemical loo smell. By the end of the summer you are like \u2018get me out of there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Swift, who is attending a private party staged by Range Rover on Thursday, also claimed BBC coverage has suffered because of budget cuts.<\/p>\n

He said: “I used to do a lot of pre-films. When I first started filming for Chelsea they would send me all over the place. We would go abroad and film – like to France and Portugal. I think the budgets just got cut and cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally criticising the road links to the show, saying traffic backs up down the Embankment. He continued: “There is only one road around Chelsea. There is a lot of tension between designers and gardeners because it is military precision.”<\/p>\n

\"Arit<\/p>\n

Arit Anderson, Rachel De Thame, Monty Don, Adam Frost and Sophie Raworth at this year’s show(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios)<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Fans complained on social media when Joe was replaced(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Adding that he would like to create his own Chelsea garden in the future, Joe said he doubted he would be able to raise the money – especially as the RHS is currently seeking new sponsors after the charity Project Giving Back announced this year is the final year it will fund the festival. He said: “I have got an idea for a show garden but I need \u00a3500 million to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to Joe\u2019s criticisms, an RHS spokeswoman said: \u201cJoe RSVP\u2019d to our invitation to attend RHS Chelsea on 11 February.<\/p>\n

“Chelsea Flower Show ran for a hundred years without Project Giving Back and if it\u2019s a super design, which will get the immense publicity that RHS Chelsea offers, we\u2019re sure Joe will be able to find a sponsor\u2026. although he might need to stop joking about the highly exaggerated \u00a3500 million budget!\u201d<\/p>\n

A BBC spokeswoman said: \u201cWe have nothing to add.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show continues all week on BBC1 and BBC2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Cat Deeley’s Chelsea Flower Show look included ‘buttery soft’ high street ballet flats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Swift has presented Gardener’s World on TV for more than two decades \u2013 but now he’s unleashed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":971382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[26854,101912,18849,33522,109,77,2207,518,6170,519,42097,16,15],"class_list":["post-971381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alan-titchmarsh","tag-bbc-television","tag-bbc1","tag-chelsea-flower-show","tag-david-beckham","tag-entertainment","tag-hospitals","tag-king-charles-iii","tag-monty-don","tag-royal-family","tag-royal-horticultural-society","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116602222222056118","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/971382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}