Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is riding high thanks to the unprecedented success of the new car show The Grand Tour that he stars in alongside the rest of the widely loved ‘Top Gear trio’, Richard Hammond and James May. The Grand Tour’s first episode became the most watched premier in the history of Amazon Video and is sure to be a massive worldwide hit. Here are some facts you may or may not have known about the sometimes controversial and seldom politically correct Jeremy Clarkson.
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He and James May were the first people to reach the North Pole by car; they achieved this feat using a Toyota pick-up truck that had been heavily modified to be able to cope with hospitable terrain
2. He attended Repton School and was expelled for ‘drinking, smoking and generally making a nuisance of himself’
3. He was once worked as a travelling salesman selling stuffed Paddington Bear toys for his parents
4. Some of the many people he’s managed to upset and offend over the years include the disabled, Argentina, Germans, the Welsh, Mexicans, Indians, lorry drivers and even the BBC
5. In 2007 he angered quite a few anti-smoking groups by lighting up a pipe in the Top Gear studio
6. He’s an amateur ornithologist and during his extensive travels around the world, he’ll be on the lookout for rare birds to check off his list
7. When Robot Wars started, the show’s host for the first series was none other than Clarkson, who left after the first series because he was too busy
8. He’s been writing for The Sunday Times for more than 20 years and has written more than 1,000 articles for the publication
9. He took his driving test in 1977 in a Bentley R Type and, of course, passed the first time; he was so confident about passing that he brought along a pair of scissors with him so he could cut the L-plate off
