I never liked ‘show-off’ Jeremy Clarkson, says ex-Top Gear host

Jeremy Clarkson’s first major television role was as a presenter on Top Gear from the late 1980s - PA

Steve Berry, who co-hosted the motoring show from 1993 to 1999, said his old colleague was an “egotist” but added that this was what made him “unique”.

The pair worked on the BBC show for six years before Clarkson, 65, returned alongside Richard Hammond when the programme was relaunched in 2002, with James May joining a year later.

They never formed a friendship, said Berry, but the 61-year-old said he respected Clarkson.

“Do you know what? I’ve said I don’t like him, but I respect him,” Berry said in a new interview, adding that he thought Hammond, May and Clarkson left the show “at exactly the right time” in 2015.

“It was just on the cusp of them starting to – some of the ideas were coming around for the second or third time. There was still an engaging watch, but I thought when they quit…that’s good timing,” he said.

Steve Berry said Clarkson was an ‘egotist’ but that made him ‘unique’ - Alrabiya

The BBC programme was taken off air following presenter Freddie Flintoff’s near-fatal crash in 2022, for which the former England cricketer sustained serious physical injuries and received a reported £9m settlement.

The broadcaster announced two years ago that Top Gear was to be “rested” for the foreseeable future, but a statement added that it remained committed to Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness – who began presenting the show in 2019.

Clarkson began hosting the programme in 1988, in its original format, before returning for the relaunch in 2002.

A young Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear in 2002 - BBC

Speaking about the broadcaster’s popular return stint alongside May and Hammond – and the dynamic between the trio – Berry said: “Anybody who watched the ‘three amigos’ Top Gear… would know there’s a hierarchy there, isn’t there.

“They’re not equal, the three of them. There’s James and there’s Richard and then there’s Jezza [Clarkson], and Jezza is the leader of the gang.”

He added: “In real life, Jeremy is a less bombastic version of that person that you see on the screen.

“You couldn’t act that persona for all the years that he has, [but] he is kind of like that.”

Clarkson, Hammond and May went on to achieve success with The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime from 2016 to 2024, but now Clarkson predominantly focuses on his farm and the Clarkson’s Farm show following his trials and tribulations.

Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on The Grand Tour - Prime Video/PA

Motoring expert Berry said that despite the pair “never really getting on together”, Clarkson once made a point to chat to him at a car show.

“He said: ‘Berry, people know we don’t like each other, I’ll buy you a pint and we’ll stand over there pretending we like each other’.”

The former host added that Clarkson was “always late,” including showing up two hours late to their first meeting.

“I turned up half an hour early because I wanted to impress,” Berry added.

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