‘I noticed huge change in Jeremy Clarkson when cameras stopped rolling on Clarkson’s Farm’
Jeremy Clarkson has become a ‘calmer man’ since leaving Top Gear for life at Diddly Squat Farm, according to Clarkson’s Farm executive producer Andy Wilman, who says the presenter is in the ‘sweetest spot’ of his career
Jeremy Clarkson has become a noticeably more relaxed individual since trading global motoring escapades for rural farm life, according to his long-standing colleague and Clarkson’s Farm executive producer Andy Wilman.
Wilman, who spent decades working alongside Clarkson on Top Gear and The Grand Tour before joining him on the hugely popular Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm, says the presenter is currently in “the sweetest spot” of his career.
The hit reality series follows Clarkson, 66, and his team as they tackle the trials and tribulations of managing his Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Wilman was asked by host Jake Humphrey whether the Jeremy Clarkson audiences see on Clarkson’s Farm is the same person who fronted Top Gear.
He said: “Same skills as we’ve discussed. Different? Yes, he is. You see a calmer man, I see the rushes,” reports the Mirror.
Wilman explained that while Clarkson still raises his energy levels once filming gets underway, there is a distinct difference in the man once the cameras stop rolling.
He said: “I see a calmer man. When the camera goes on, obviously, he goes up a notch to perform and talk, but you see a calmer man. He’s constantly talking about [the love of the farm] with the film crew. He’s absolutely in the sweetest spot, so it is a different Jeremy, short answer.”
According to Wilman, Clarkson’s enthusiasm for farming has helped draw out that aspect of his character. Wilman added: “The farm has kind of brought it out more. It’s enhanced it. I think Top Gear Jeremy was mental, mental, then nothing. Grand Tour, then nothing. I think you’d get an agitated Jeremy, right, because he’s programmed to work. He’s programmed to do.”
The producer suggested that farming provides Clarkson with the sense of purpose he yearns for, without the pressures and relentless travel that came with his previous television ventures.
“And the farm is the best green run, ski slope descent into calmness that you could ever have because it’s still work,” he said.
“It still requires a lot of effort and brain power, but all he’s got to do is step out of his front door and he’s at work without having to get on the plane and go to Mauritania, and have a crew of eight million and all that stuff. That gets wearing, that kind of thing.”
Wilman revealed that a significant number of the crew working on Clarkson’s Farm are veterans of both Top Gear and The Grand Tour, though the working environment is markedly more relaxed.
He said: “He’s got veterans from Top Gear and Grand Tour. And their days are they’ll film a scene, like, let’s say, move goats or cow birth or something, and then after that’s done, they’re going to have a cup of coffee and sometimes they go, ‘what should we do next?'”
For Clarkson, Wilman suggested, that unhurried rhythm combined with genuinely fulfilling work has turned out to be the perfect recipe.
“They’re going to do something, but then they have to have a think about it, and it’s like. That’s just joy for somebody who wants to work. But he’s not got like a newspaper deadline or the weight of the world’s expectations on him,” he added.