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Jeremy Clarkson: Top Gear exit was my own silly fault | Jeremy Clarkson: Top Gear exit was my own silly fault |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Jeremy Clarkson has admitted that being dropped from Top Gear was his “own silly fault” and said that he would be open to returning to the BBC. | Jeremy Clarkson has admitted that being dropped from Top Gear was his “own silly fault” and said that he would be open to returning to the BBC. |
Clarkson, who left the hit BBC2 show after a fracas with a Top Gear producer, said that not having Top Gear had left a “big hole that needs to be filled”. | Clarkson, who left the hit BBC2 show after a fracas with a Top Gear producer, said that not having Top Gear had left a “big hole that needs to be filled”. |
“I was very sad, it was my own silly fault so I could hardly complain,” he said, speaking on Chris Evans’s BBC2 Radio breakfast show. | “I was very sad, it was my own silly fault so I could hardly complain,” he said, speaking on Chris Evans’s BBC2 Radio breakfast show. |
“I was at the BBC for 27 years, and on the current incarnation for 12. It was very much my baby, I absolutely adored it, I worked all through the night and paid attention to every tiny bit and then suddenly you are not asked to do that any more. You feel that there is a big hole that needs to be filled.” | “I was at the BBC for 27 years, and on the current incarnation for 12. It was very much my baby, I absolutely adored it, I worked all through the night and paid attention to every tiny bit and then suddenly you are not asked to do that any more. You feel that there is a big hole that needs to be filled.” |
Related: Top Gear bosses considered ditching Richard Hammond, says Andy Wilman | Related: Top Gear bosses considered ditching Richard Hammond, says Andy Wilman |
Evans then said that while his co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond still have a “door open” to work at the BBC, to which Clarkson said: “Well so can I. I’m not sacked, remember.” | |
Clarkson dodged questions about how seriously he was in discussions about new TV projects, after reports of meetings with Netflix and ITV. | Clarkson dodged questions about how seriously he was in discussions about new TV projects, after reports of meetings with Netflix and ITV. |
“No, I haven’t had a single meeting,” he said. “I’ve just been listening.” | “No, I haven’t had a single meeting,” he said. “I’ve just been listening.” |
When pressed on the what “listening” meant, Clarkson said: “On the telephone or video conferencing. I have absolutely no idea [what’s next]. | |
“It was very sudden [leaving Top Gear]. You’d be a fool to just jump into something. You need to look at what’s out there and what is the best thing to do. | |
“I was at the BBC for 27 years. You emerge and find the world has changed and you have to find out how the world works, which is what I have been doing.” | “I was at the BBC for 27 years. You emerge and find the world has changed and you have to find out how the world works, which is what I have been doing.” |
Despite his string of run-ins with BBC management over the years, Clarkson said that he loved the corporation and would miss it as much as he did working on Top Gear. | Despite his string of run-ins with BBC management over the years, Clarkson said that he loved the corporation and would miss it as much as he did working on Top Gear. |
“I like the BBC,” he said. “There are some dreadful people in it but there are also some really talented and brilliant people. It is a great organisation [and] I’ll never complain about it. I thank them for giving me such a long time there.” | “I like the BBC,” he said. “There are some dreadful people in it but there are also some really talented and brilliant people. It is a great organisation [and] I’ll never complain about it. I thank them for giving me such a long time there.” |
He also gave listeners a preview of the content of the last three episodes of Top Gear, saying they “weren’t the strongest films [but] they weren’t bad”. | He also gave listeners a preview of the content of the last three episodes of Top Gear, saying they “weren’t the strongest films [but] they weren’t bad”. |
The final episodes of the last series were postponed following Clarkson’s fracas incident as they could not be completed, but the BBC has pledged that they will be broadcast. | |
Clarkson said that one of the episodes involved the team buying “very, very cheap 4x4s, a couple of hundred pounds, not thousands”. Another involved going on a “traditional classic cars enthusiast weekend”. | Clarkson said that one of the episodes involved the team buying “very, very cheap 4x4s, a couple of hundred pounds, not thousands”. Another involved going on a “traditional classic cars enthusiast weekend”. |
He said: “They do belong to the licence fee payer, so you should get to see them if that is what you want. For those of you that do like [Top Gear] there will be one last hurrah.” |
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