A former Top Gear boss has made a frank admission about Jeremy Clarkson’s time on the show.
Andy Wilman is a long-time collaborator of the 65-year-old presenter, having met at Repton School in Derbyshire.
The producer was behind the likes of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm over the years, as well as the hit series Top Gear, all starring Mr Clarkson.
Mr Wilman has now made a frank statement about the success of the BBC motoring show hinging on his schoolmate.
He said: “Without him, Jezza, there’s nothing.”
Mr Moyles responded: “No, don’t big him up, Andy. Take the credit!”
Standing firm on his statement, Mr Wilman replied: “No, it was. Without him, nothing.
“But we all did our bit, obviously, and I think one of the reasons it was a big thing was that it kind of developed organically. It was an accident.
“You know, you’ve got your massive shows like X Factor or The Traitors. You guys will know how well developed and conceived and stress-tested those things are.
“And we only had this kind of modest ambition of refreshing Top Gear in 2000. But we didn’t know what was to come.
“We didn’t know we were going to be going abroad, doing stretch limos with you and all that sort of stuff. It was a much more modest ambition.
“And then things happen by accident. The Stig is an accident. The specials are an accident.
“Because we weren’t thick, we were too thick actually, to sort of plan it. But we were just bright enough to go, ‘We’re onto a good thing.’”
Mr Byrne then asked: “Was that because of the chemistry of the three, do you think, on screen?
“Was that why it worked so well? Because you can’t really plan for that, I guess.”
Talking about Mr Clarkson and his former co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May, Mr Wilman added: “No, and it was like one of the good things that the BBC was good at – they left us alone!
“I think in a lot of TV shows today, everything’s got to hit the ground running.
“And their chemistry. You know, James wasn’t called Captain Slow until like series five.
“We were left alone, and then that friendship is all kind of organic, and the viewers are seeing it, and I think that’s a rare thing.”
Clarkson’s Farm is set to return to Prime Video with a fifth series next year after filming on the new episodes wrapped earlier this autumn.
