Jeremy Clarkson says he nearly lost his leg in farm accident

TV presenter has been growing crops and looking after livestock on land he owns in the Cotswolds

Jeremy Clarkson has said he narrowly escaped losing his leg in an accident on his farm.

The TV presenter stars in Clarkson’s Farm, which sees him grow crops and look after livestock on land he owns in the Cotswolds.

Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show about his new book Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm, he said that there are “more accidents in farming than all the other industries put together”.

Explaining his own experience, Clarkson, 61, said: “I got this thing called a telehandler, it’s like a JCB thing. I thought, ‘I’ll just use its front to push the [fence] post in.’

“It got halfway into the ground and the fence was leaning on it and it flicked back. How it didn’t take my leg off... I didn’t walk properly for a week. This was a quarter of a tonne of fence post.”

Clarkson bought the farm in 2008 and it was run by a villager, but when he retired in 2019 Clarkson decided to see if he could run it himself.

Speaking about how his documentary series came about, Clarkson said: “It was an accident. I was contractually obliged – I had to make a programme on my own. I thought, ‘I’m slightly bored of Terminal 5. I’ll film at home on the farm.’

“I thought what a lovely programme it would be to try and learn to be a farmer. I genuinely love it out there.”

Clarkson on the farm (Amazon Prime Video)

Telling Ross about the show’s standout star, farming contractor Kaleb Cooper, The Grand Tour presenter added: “He’s entrepreneurial, that’s how I’d describe him.

“The [farm] shop is a huge success and consequently we’ve had to mow a field near it so people can park there and it’s really a mud bath. Kaleb now goes up and charges people £15 to tow their cars out.”

Also in the episode, Police star Sting shared details about his and his wife Trudie’s encounter with a ghost in their home.

Sting said: “My wife and I saw a ghost one night. I didn’t really believe in them but I woke up and I saw a woman and a child standing in the corner of the room.

“I thought, ‘Why is Trudie standing there with our baby?’ And then I reached over and there she was. She woke up and saw exactly the same thing.”

The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday night at 10.05pm on ITV and the ITV Hub.

Additional reporting by Press Association