The Grand Tour

Clarkson’s Farm Star Kaleb Cooper Reveals How He Deals With Jeremy Clarkson’s Recklessness

Kaleb Cooper, the real star of Clarkson’s Farm, has revealed how he’s able to stand up to Jeremy Clarkson as he teaches him the dos and don’ts of running a successful farm.

Professional farmers, according to Kaleb, all have one thing in common that helps them overcome challenging circumstances in their farming careers.

This means that when Clarkson screws up like, for example, buying a huge Lamborghini tractor instead of something more sensible or taking shortcuts while loosening the soil for seeding, Kaleb is armed with the expertise to deal with him.

“Patience, that’s what I have,” he says.

 

He revealed that initially when he heard the news that he would be working for Jeremy himself that it would be “brilliant”. But soon after starting, he started questioning himself: “What have I got myself in for?” he asked. But standing up against his new boss was something he felt he had to do.

“I speak for all farmers and young farmers, when they know their job and have done it for a long time and they are right, then there’s no backing down,” he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“And I wasn’t backing down because I knew, I was right, I knew how the job was done etc. so I wasn’t going to back down when I knew how the job was done and I was a professional at it.”

Kaleb had been working on the farm at Chadlington for three years before Jeremy decided to give hands-on management a try following the previous manager’s departure. He acknowledges that he didn’t really know Clarkson before filming began on the TV series, despite the fact that they eventually bonded as close as brothers.

“We met a few times,” he said. “I was always too busy to stop then really so I didn’t really speak to him a lot.

“We met a few of times and spoke a few times beforehand and when they offered me to do this, to take on the farm with him, I thought ‘that would be brilliant’.”

When they began, Kaleb agreed with The Grand Tour presenter that getting onto the farm and doing it is the best way to learn, but he also told the radio station that he didn’t ask for any advise either.

During the interview, Kaleb spoke about his efforts to encourage individuals to submit a Mole Valley Farmer for a ‘countryside hero’ recognition. The journalists suggested that he was the hero who tolerated the 61-year-old outspoken Grand Tour host.

“I am probably going to get a fair few nominations, which I thank people for, but it’s more for other people than me,” he said before encouraging people to vote for others who deserve the recognition.

A second series of Clarkson’s Farm is currently being filmed for release next year, but Kaleb admitted that farming is a very difficult job in his latest column for the Daily Mail.

“At last the British public have been given a TV programme that tells the truth about farming.

“Above all, it makes one thing brutally clear: it is bloody hard work. It’s stressful. It’s on the edge.”

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: [email protected]

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One Comment

  1. Kaleb should get his own series from this. He is truly a star in the making and most certainly a genuine star of farming. He is such a hardworking young man and should have the respect of all. Clarkson is a lovable clown, Kaleb has my admiration for what he is doing.

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