It has now been a full year since James May addressed the ongoing speculation about whether he might one day join his former colleague Jeremy Clarkson on the hit Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm. The 61-year-old presenter, best known for his long-running partnership with Clarkson and Richard Hammond, has charted a different professional path since the trio’s time together on Top Gear and later The Grand Tour.
For over two decades, May, Clarkson, and Hammond were inseparable in the public eye, first rising to fame as the much-loved hosts of the BBC’s motoring juggernaut Top Gear. After parting ways with the BBC, they reunited for Amazon Prime’s The Grand Tour, which gave fans several years of travel and automotive adventures in the same irreverent style that had made them household names. However, in September of last year, the curtain finally came down on The Grand Tour with the broadcast of a farewell special entitled One For The Road. Filmed across Zimbabwe and Botswana, the episode marked the final outing of a partnership that had shaped the motoring television landscape for more than 22 years.
Even before The Grand Tour wrapped up, each of the presenters had been steadily cultivating side projects that reflected their individual interests. Clarkson found remarkable success with Clarkson’s Farm, a Prime Video documentary series chronicling his efforts to run his Oxfordshire farm near Chipping Norton. The show, which balances humour, frustration, and genuine insights into modern farming, quickly became a critical and commercial hit, winning a devoted fan base and sparking conversations about agriculture in Britain.
As Clarkson’s Farm grew in popularity, many fans began to wonder whether Clarkson’s longtime friends and collaborators, James May and Richard Hammond, might make guest appearances or even play more permanent roles in the agricultural series. Such speculation became frequent on social media, with viewers eager to see the trio together again, albeit in a very different context from fast cars and exotic road trips.
James May appeared to settle the matter in September of last year. After a fan-run account on X (formerly Twitter) shared a tongue-in-cheek mock-up of a spin-off titled James’ Farm—complete with a photograph of May surrounded by goats and the caption “Who else would watch this?”—May offered a typically dry response. Quoting the post directly, he answered simply: “I wouldn’t.” His comment suggested in no uncertain terms that he had no intention of trading cars for crops.
Interestingly, the photo used in the fan edit had been originally uploaded by May himself earlier that same day, showing him posing with the animals during what appeared to be a casual visit rather than a serious farming endeavour. While the playful edit delighted fans, May’s blunt reply served as a reminder of his disinterest in pursuing the farming life that his co-host has embraced.
Since May’s remarks, however, there has been an unexpected development: Richard Hammond did, in fact, make an appearance in Clarkson’s Farm. Earlier this year, Hammond featured in the show’s fourth series, delighting long-term fans who had missed seeing the familiar chemistry between him and Clarkson. His cameo sparked renewed hope that, even if James May remains adamant about not donning wellies and tending to livestock, the spirit of the trio’s enduring friendship might still occasionally cross over into Clarkson’s new agricultural venture.
