The Grand Tour to be rebooted without Clarkson, Hammond and May
The car series is set to continue on Amazon Prime in a new format following the departure of the former Top Gear trio.
The Grand Tour will continue without Clarkson, May and Hammond after a new reboot of the show was confirmed.
Former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have left the Prime Video car series after five series in the driving seat as their contracts have come to an end. But TV industry magazine Broadcast magazine has now confirmed a reboot is in the works after Studio Lambert has been awarded a contract to “develop a fresh version” of the show.
Studio Lambert are the production company behind hit reality shows The Traitors, Gogglebox and Squid Game: The Challenge. They are said to have to have won the contract after beating rival pitches from Shine TV – who make MasterChef and The Hunted – and recently founded Orchard Studios.
There are very few details known about the new format of The Grand Tour. But the news comes after Hammond, May and Clarkson confirmed that the latest special Sand Job would be their last run. The final special of the show was filmed in Zimbabwe last year and is due to air on Prime Video later in 2024.
Hammond told Yahoo UK: "The key thing on that whole issue, [is] we had decided years ago that we wanted to be in control. Having set off on this incredible adventure that none of us thought would ever come our way, we all wanted to be the ones — and I don't just mean us three, all of us— to decide when and where and how we landed it, and we have done."
May told the Radio Times in June last year: "I mean, some people have said we've been cancelled. But really we're getting quite close to the end of our contract, but we didn't really have any particular plans to keep going because we're all really just getting a bit old. It might be time to let someone else have a crack at it."
Clarkson, May and Hammond rose to fame on BBC show Top Gear before they left in 2015 and signed a deal with Amazon Prime to host a new car show The Grand Tour instead. Clarkson had been suspended by the BBC that year after he punched Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon in an argument over food while filming on location.
Top Gear continued with new hosts, but this year the BBC confirmed it had decided to "rest" the show after recent hit Freddie Flintoff quit following his injury while filming in December 2022. The retired cricket player was involved in a high-speed crash in a three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 which does not contain airbags. The TV star was reportedly left with broken ribs and facial injuries after being airlifted to hospital.
Flintoff had hosted the show from 2019, along with Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris. After Clarkson, May and Hammond jumped ship in 2015, it was hosted by TV and radio presenter Chris Evans and Friends star Matt Le Blanc among others.
The Grand Tour: Sand Job is out now on Prime Video. The show’s final special will air on the platform later this year.
Read more: The Grand Tour
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The Grand Tour: Clarkson, May and Hammond set to 'quit' after 20 years together (Oxford Mail, 2-min read)
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