Jeremy Clarkson has issued a stern but supportive warning to Kaleb Cooper as the young farmer considers his next career steps amid growing fame in the Cotswolds.
The former Top Gear presenter first purchased Curdle Hill Farm in Oxfordshire back in 2008, later renaming it the now-famous Diddly Squat Farm. Since then, the once-quiet farmland in Chadlington has become the central focus of the hit Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm, which has followed Clarkson’s misadventures in agriculture across multiple seasons.
One of the breakout stars of the show has undoubtedly been Kaleb Cooper. Originally employed as a farmhand, the 27-year-old quickly became a fan favourite when the first season aired in 2021. His sharp wit, unfiltered honesty, and ongoing clashes with Clarkson won over audiences and transformed him into a celebrity almost overnight.
Since that debut, Cooper has remained a core part of the program, returning for every subsequent season, including the most recent fourth instalment which streamed earlier this year between May and June. But while his growing popularity has brought new opportunities, it has also raised concerns about how he should handle the pressures of sudden fame.
Speaking recently to The Sunday Times, Cooper revealed that his boss, Clarkson, took him aside to give him some words of advice during those early days.
“Six months into it, the director said to me, ‘Kaleb, you’re going to be a massive celebrity.’ And the day after it came out, I gained a million followers on Instagram,” Cooper recalled. “I went to Jeremy and asked, ‘What do I do?’”
Clarkson’s response was blunt but practical: “Kaleb, you’ve got two options. You can go out there and make all the money you can, but you’ll fall off the face of the earth in five years’ time. Or, you can go for longevity.”
Cooper, who has always been more comfortable on the tractor than on red carpets, opted for the second path. But with that choice came a cautionary warning from Clarkson about the importance of restraint.
“He said, ‘Right, OK, then you’ve got to be really careful what you do and what you don’t do,’” Cooper explained. “So when someone comes along saying, ‘Do you want to do an advert for a brand? The money’s great,’ I think, ‘Probably not. I’d rather go sit on the tractor, actually.’”
For now, the young farmer seems committed to keeping his feet firmly planted in the Cotswold soil, balancing his growing celebrity status with his true passion for farming. Meanwhile, Clarkson and the production team are already filming season five of Clarkson’s Farm in Oxfordshire, with new episodes expected to reach fans in 2026.
