TV presenter Monty Don is still mourning the death of his dog, Nigel, who became almost as famous as the Gardeners’ World star, thanks to numerous appearances on the BBC show.

Golden retriever Nigel became the star of Gardeners’ World – filmed at Don’s garden, Longmeadow, at his home in Herefordshire – and died in May, aged 12.

Don, who writes about the dog movingly in his latest book, My Garden World, still cannot quite believe how famous Nigel was.

Don, 65, said: “I miss him all the time. If Nigel was here now, he’d probably be bringing me a ball and rolling it on the desk and saying, ‘Come on, get off the phone’.”

Nigel died unexpectedly the day after Don finished the book.

The dog suffered a major seizure at around 1am on May 4, and Don said in the book Nigel did not appear to know where he was, and seemed to have lost his sight.

The fits continued all night and after a few hours, Don admits he wanted Nigel to die in his arms to end the dog’s suffering. During a visit to the vets the next morning, they were told the prognosis wasn’t good and agreed Nigel should be gently put to sleep.

Looking back, Don says now: “It happened with no warning at all. It was a shock, it was very sudden. We were filming the day it happened and I had to go on filming while it was going on. That was quite tricky.”

But he is grateful that his four-legged friend did not have a prolonged illness and said Nigel had a “lovely last day and was quite happy”.

He added: “It was upsetting and very sad. We didn’t tell anyone for a week after he died because we just wanted to process it privately. He might have been a star around the world, but he was just part of our family.

“Then I put the news out and it was front page news in The Times. It was on the radio and on the television."

Nigel is buried at Longmeadow with 50 yellow tennis balls, his bowl full of an extra helping of food, biscuits and a bunch of May flowers, with a stone set above him surrounded by foxgloves, anemones and primroses.