The Grand Tour

Richard Hammond Reflects On Top Gear End As Jeremy Clarkson Dropped By Amazon: “Wasn’t A Proud Moment”

Richard Hammond reveals the fun his daughter had after he left BBC Top Gear in 2015 and the financial issues he was plunged into.

It’s fair to say things aren’t looking good for The Grand Tour crew after rumours that Jeremy Clarkson has been dropped by Amazon Prime Video swirl online. But this isn’t the first time Jeremy has been dropped by someone, with the BBC not renewing his contract in 2015 after the legendary ‘fracas’.

Talking to the Fuelling Around podcast, Hammond admitted that his daughter Izzy enjoyed joking about his lack of income after he, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May left the BBC’s iconic car show.

It was reported that Jeremy attacked the show’s producer, Oisin Tymon, after there wasn’t any hot food available after a day of filming. And this left the three without any income as they started hunting for the next car show.

“After we finished the show James had come over to stay with me for a few days. We’d gone to Kentucky Fried Chicken to get lunch for everyone with Izzy,” Hammond told the podcast presenter.

“We got to the front of the queue, put our order in, and James typically said: ‘Oh, oh, I’ll pay Hammond’ and I said ‘no, no mate, I’ll pay’ and he said ‘no, no, no I’ll pay’.

“And there was a pause, just when the whole restaurant had gone quiet, and Izzy said: ‘Well technically lads, I should pay as you haven’t got a job between you’. And the place detonated with laughter.”

He continued:

“She obviously then thought ‘this is the best game’. So subsequently, at the end of the queue in Morrisons, as I was waiting to pay she would say very loudly: ‘Daddy, daddy, so when does your credit card stop working?’ and I’d go ‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ and again a whole store of people were in hysterics.”

Fortunately for both Hammond and May, both stars have their own shows and businesses to lean on if The Grand Tour goes south. Jeremy Clarkson has a large nest egg so will likely be fine without his Grand Tour income.

Hammond later reflected on watching Jeremy put an end to Top Gear:

“The end of Top Gear was tough, it was the end of an era and we knew we had to stick together.

“I was there, I’m on record as saying this, I was there and it wasn’t a proud moment for anybody. But Jeremy wasn’t fired, they didn’t renew his contract for the next year.”

More news to come as we explore the drama.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: alex@grandtournation.com

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