‘It’s time to let someone else have a crack at it’
James May has said The Grand Tour wouldn’t go ahead without Jeremy Clarkson amid reports Amazon has cut ties with the controversial presenter.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Clarkson had “parted ways” with Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video, following the backlash to an article he had written about Meghan Markle for the Sun.
In the column, the former Top Gear host said he dreamed of the Duchess of Sussex being made to parade naked through the streets while crowds throw excrement at her and shout, “Shame”, and said he hated her on a “cellular level.”
According to Variety, Prime decided to stop working on any future projects with Clarkson, with the presenter unlikely to appear in any new shows on the platform after 2024. Amazon has not officially commented.
May told LADBible he doubted the series would continue without Clarkson, saying: “I don’t think anybody would want to see it.” He continued: “I don’t think they’d want to see any two of us try and carry on the thing that the three of us are known for together.”
And he doubted the series would move platforms to keep the trio together and suggested it might be time to “walk away”. “The difficult bit in TV, showbiz, is knowing when the stop. And most people don’t.”
However, in a separate chat with The Radio Times, May said there was still a future for the trio taking on different shows and challenges.
"I mean, some people have said we've been cancelled. But really we're getting quite close to the end of our contract, but we didn't really have any particular plans to keep going because we're all really just getting a bit old. It might be time to let someone else have a crack at it."
"It doesn't mean we're going to stop making TV," he added. "We might still make our individual things - farming or science or mending cars or whatever it is we get up to.
"But I don't know, to be honest. No one has told us to go away. It's reaching its natural end, like parties do. There comes a point at 4am when it is over."
(Prime Video)
'Quit while you’re ahead' - James May
James May continued: “You want to land it and walk away, and I hope we can do that. I don’t think anyone would want to see, and I think they’d be quite happy if say me and Jeremy made The Speed of Birds which we’ve spoken about it many times.
“Or Jeremy and Hammond did something about the countryside. Or me and Hammond did something with a workshop. But I don’t think they’d want to see all of us carrying on the things we’re all known for. It just wouldn’t be as good, to be honest.
“Quit while you’re ahead. If we are indeed ahead. We are knocking on a bit.”
May told the Radio Times that while some people have said “we’ve been cancelled”, “really we’re getting quite close to the end of our contract”.
He added: “We didn’t really have any particular plans to keep going because we’re all really just getting a bit old. It might be time to let someone else have a crack at it.”
James May stressed that it doesn’t mean the trio are going to stop making TV, “We might still make our individual things – farming or science or mending cars or whatever it is we get up to
“But I don’t know, to be honest. No one has told us to go away. It’s reaching its natural end, like parties do. There comes a point at 4am when it is over.”
Fans will be treated to another edition of The Grand Tour in just a few days, with The Grand Tour: Eurocrash released on Friday June 16. This will see the trio head to central Europe for a road trip nobody has ever thought of, in cars nobody would ever dream of.
This epic 1400-mile journey takes them from Gdańsk in Poland, through Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. They sample some Soviet-style Formula 1, are attacked by deadly archers, recruit a famous racing driver and take part in a spectacular Fast and Furious climax.
This special follows their latest release, A Scandi Flick, and will launch ahead of their next adventure which has recently finished filming in Mauritania.
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