A decade ago, some might have thought that Jeremy Clarkson’s career was well and truly over.
The man widely regarded as one of Britain’s most controversial TV stars seemed to seal his fate when he literally punched a Top Gear producer in a highly-publicised clash.
Yet 10 years later, his career is still going strong. Even more than that – it seems to be brighter than ever before.
Who knew that it was possible to salvage a besmirched reputation after walloping a colleague square in the face?
It was the year 2015. The revival of Top Gear had been on the air for 13 years and soared to stratospheric heights of success.
In its heyday, it was crowned the most widely-watched factual TV programme in the 2013 Guinness World Records, with 350 million people tuning in from 250 countries across the globe to become the BBC’s most exported programme ever.
Making Top Gear wasn’t always a smooth ride. The series received criticism over the years for incidents deemed highly offensive, such as the mockery of different cultures on the show, including complaints of racism over the programme’s Burma special.
However, it remained an enormous success for that 13-year stint, becoming a linchpin of British TV culture despite the controversies it faced.
Aside from its impressive ratings, over the years Top Gear was recognised with multiple high-profile awards, including National Television Awards and Bafta nominations, while it was also hailed the best TV show of the decade in a 2009 Channel 4 survey.
And then, everything came crashing down in 2015 when Clarkson became embroiled in a ‘fracas’ with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon.
The BBC initially released a statement on March 10 that year announcing that the now-64-year-old had been ‘suspended pending an investigation’.
‘No-one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. The BBC will be making no further comment at this time,’ the statement read.
It was the beginning of the end. Or so fans might have thought.
Two weeks later, it was confirmed on March 25 that Clarkson had been officially dropped from Top Gear, despite more than 500,000 people signing a petition to have him reinstated.
An internal investigation conducted by Ken McQuarrie, the director of BBC Scotland, found that Tymon had been the victim of an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’, which resulted ‘in swelling and bleeding to his lip’ after he was hit.
The broadcaster’s then-director general Tony Hall stressed that a ‘line had been crossed’, leading to Clarkson being sacked.
‘There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations,’ he said.
‘This decision should in no way detract from the extraordinary contribution that Jeremy Clarkson has made to the BBC. I have always personally been a great fan of his work and Top Gear.’
A year later, Clarkson issued a public apology to Tymon, stating: ‘I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the incident and its regrettable aftermath,’ after reaching a settlement agreement of £100,000 for the producer, which both the presenter and the BBC contributed towards.
Clarkson’s departure from Top Gear didn’t just mark the exit of one presenter. He was followed by his co-stars Richard Hammond, James May and producer Andy Wilman, marking the true end of an era for British television.
Top Gear, however, did not end. A few months later, it was announced that radio presenter Chris Evans would be taking over as one of the new hosts, alongside Friends actor Matt LeBlanc and other stars including motoring journalist Chris Harris.
Ratings drastically plummeted with Evans at the helm. In July 2016, the final episode of the Top Gear series that aired brought in a mere average 1.9m viewers with 2.4m at its peak – a far cry from its past success.
By 2018, cricketing legend Freddie Flintoff had entered the fold along with Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness as they joined Harris in a new iteration of the show that lasted until 2022, when Flintoff was involved in an extremely serious car accident.
The new era of Flintoff, McGuinness and Harris felt like a fresh start for Top Gear, when some had feared that it would never recover from the exodus of the former trio and from the poor ratings that Evans’ tenure brought in.
As for Clarkson, he did not rest on his laurels by any means.
In 2016, he, Hammond and May reunited for a project that saw a plethora of Top Gear fans switch over from the BBC to Amazon Prime Video – the launch of The Grand Tour.
Their venture was described in The Standard as ‘one of the biggest coups in TV history’, and one that propelled the streaming platform to new heights when competing with linear TV broadcasters.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/celebritynews/amazon-sign-top-gears-jeremy-clarkson-richard-hammond-and-james-may-for-new-show-10426102.html
It was claimed that the deal for three series of The Grand Tour cost Amazon a sensational £160m. An amount that has certainly been worth the cost in the years since.
At the time, Jay Marine, the vice president of Amazon Prime Video in Europe, said: ‘This is a golden age of television, a great time for TV makers and storytellers. Our approach is to give programme makers creative freedom to be innovative and make the shows they want to make.’
Some might have assumed that The Grand Tour could in no way compete with Top Gear., despite the enormous financial backing that Amazon injected into the show. But following a similar format to their old series (under certain legal limitations so as to not infringe on the BBC’s copyright), their success once again reached new heights.
Across an eight-year period, it became one of the most-viewed shows ever on the streaming platform.
And then of course, Clarkson also gained a new legion of fans in the pastoral community with the premiere of the mega hit Clarkson’s Farm in 2021, which is due to return with season four this May after already being renewed for a fifth outing.
Following the release of the third outing in May last year, it was reported that 3.7million people had watched the opening episode of the new season overnight, with more than three million reaching episode two, 2.5m watching the third and just over two million watching the fourth and final instalment.
He originally purchased the land for his farm in 2008, but took over trying to run it himself from 2019, when it was renamed Diddly Squat Farm.
His venture spawned a shop, as well as a pub that opened in August last year called The Farmer’s Dog.
Clarkson has spoken candidly in recent months about the ‘disasters’ the pub has faced, having reportedly spent a hefty £1,000,000 on the business.
But that doesn’t mean to say that he is no longer a success in his career overall. On the contrary – his popularity has seemingly never waned, currently boasting close to nine million followers on Instagram.
In December 2022, he sparked an uproar for a vile column that he wrote about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, which included comments deemed ‘pejorative and prejudicial’ by Ipso in a landmark ruling several months later after a record number of complaints.
Following the backlash, Clarkson apologised for the column written in The Sun, describing the language he’d used as ‘disgraceful’ and saying that he was ‘profoundly sorry’ towards Meghan and Prince Harry.
It was claimed in January 2023 that following his apology, Amazon was not going to work with Clarkson beyond the seasons of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm that had already been commissioned at that time.
More Trending
But then, just four months ago in November 2024, it was announced that Clarkson’s Farm had been renewed for its fifth season. So clearly, this was not the case.
The Grand Tour might be over, but the brand of ‘Jeremy Clarkson’ is not fading into obscurity any time soon.
Clarkson’s Farm is still a roaring success, while the presenter has also proven a massive hit as the host of ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which made a massive return in 2018 with an average of 5m viewers tuning in to the premiere.
Deals of the Day
Save £300 on the 'Ferrari of lawn mowers' that gardeners are calling 'unbelievable'
Abandoned department store transformed into the UK's biggest charity shop
Tesco makes major change in stores as shoppers ask 'what's the point exactly?'
Suede jackets are taking over the fashion scene – here’s where to shop the staple
Last chance to save £300 off the top-rated Shark robot vacuum in Amazon’s Spring sale
So 10 years after Clarkson punched his way to a firing on Top Gear, it’s surely no understatement to say that his career has not suffered. And given all that’s transpired since, it’s doubtful that it ever will.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: ‘Addictive’ new movie fans can’t stop themselves watching storms Amazon Prime chart
MORE: Jeremy Clarkson hits back after being told he’s ‘not much help’ on Millionaire
MORE: Amazon Prime viewers can’t stop watching ‘the best show since the Big Bang’
