Jeremy Clarkson is making a long-awaited return to motoring TV, it’s been revealed.
The Clarkson’s Farm star, 64, began hosting Top Gear alongside James May and Richard Hammond in 2003, before their time on the BBC programme came to an end in 2015 when Clarkson was sacked for an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’ on a Top Gear producer.
He later apologised and agreed to pay damages, while May and Hammond followed Clarkson and quit the show soon after, saying they came as a ‘package’.
They then moved over to Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour, which came to an end last year with two specials, filmed in Zimbabwe and Mauritania.
While the trio haven’t revealed any plans to reunite for a new TV programme, it’s been revealed Clarkson is having some input on Car SOS and has already ‘secretly filmed’ a segment.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host appears as a guest to help with restoring a Land Rover Discovery Series 1, and even staged the big reveal at his home.
Car SOS host Tim Shaw said: ‘Jeremy was happy for us to bring a full coach load of people.
‘I mean, think about it – 60 strangers turning up at your property!’
He added: ‘We spent about half an hour with Jeremy and he was warm, friendly, and, of course, typically sarcastic and funny.
‘He genuinely cared about the wellbeing of both the team and, most importantly, the car’s owner.’
Shaw also said industry people told him that Clarkson was ‘very unlikely to take part in the show’.
He said: ‘The general sentiment was, “good luck with that”. But I figured it was worth a shot.
‘Even though it was a busy time for Jeremy on the farm, I reached out to his long-time assistant and explained the story behind the car.
‘It was an all-or-nothing request: “Could we come to his home and reveal the car to its owner?”
‘To my surprise, she got back to me almost immediately after speaking with Jeremy – and the answer was yes. We were all totally stunned.’
‘Now, I wasn’t expecting hugs, tears, or a big outpouring of emotion from Jeremy when we handed the car back to its owner James,’ he added.
‘But he showed everyone involved that day that he’s a kind, caring guy, even while keeping up that classic Clarkson front.’
Car SOS first began in 2013 and is presented by both Shaw and Fuzz Townshend, as they work with a specialist restoration team to secretly help restore classic cars that are often in serious states of disrepair, unbeknownst to the owner, who may not be able to continue the restoration project due to medical or financial issues.
Following the end of The Grand Tour last year, May said he thinks the time is right for a brand new motoring show because he, Clarkson and Hammond are ‘too old’.
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He did however offer some hope about reuniting as a trio on another project, elsewhere saying: ‘I wouldn’t rule it out, but you do have to bear in mind that we’re all getting on a bit.’
Clarkson meanwhile branded himself ‘unfit, fat and old’ when speaking about why he was done with the ‘immensely physical’ show.
‘I’ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else,’ he said.
‘We’ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air.’
He continued to The Times that the show ‘is immensely physical and when you’re unfit and fat and old, which I am,’ some parts like camping are difficult.
He echoed his thoughts in another interview saying: ‘I’ve done enough of the travel, I was worn out by it.’
In 2023, the BBC officially made the decision to ‘rest’ Top Gear for the ‘foreseeable future’, after Freddie Flintoff’s horror crash in December 2022.
The Grand Tour is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
A new series of Car SOS airs on March 13 at 8pm on National Geographic.
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