Jeremy Clarkson says his success ‘gives men hope’

Ever wondered how on earth Top Gear used to notch up viewing figures of over 350million people worldwide?

According to Jeremy Clarkson, it’s because it made all those balding, middle-aged blokes watching at home feel better about their bad teeth and expanding waistlines.

“We give men hope,” he told The Sun. “If you’re watching as a family, the wife will look at us then look at the husband, who’s fat with a fag on the go, and think, ‘You’re not so bad.’

“Most people on TV have nice teeth, look after themselves and their hair is well cut, and they shame us. They shame most people.

“We make people feel good about themselves because they’re better than us at everything. It’s just three really ordinary people doing extraordinary things. When you see Bear Grylls going, ‘I can drink my own urine, stab this snake and eat a swan’, that’s incredible. But he has come from that background.

“I was a local reporter on the Rotherham Advertiser, James plays the harpsichord, Richard Hammond was a local radio DJ. I’m not a racing driver. I’m a fat man.”

Speaking ahead of the launch of new show The Grand Tour, Clarkson also admitted he’s a little concerned about people’s expectations now they’ve switched to Amazon Prime.

“What worries me most is that everyone is expecting Avengers Assemble, that people think we’ve made something between the new Star Wars movie and Iron Man.

“It is just three middle-aged men doing what they’ve always done – drive cars around corners, shout, fall over, belittle each other, bicker.

“It’s the same family, we’ve just moved house. It’s comfort food, but we’ve gone from serving shepherd’s pie for 12 years to cottage pie. It’s still potato with mince underneath.”

You can find out whether Clarkson’s cottage pie is up to scratch when The Grand Tour finally airs on November 18^th on Amazon Prime.