Clarkson: My terror as druggie gangster held gun to my head
MOTORMOUTH presenter Jeremy Clarkson has relived the terrifying moment a machine gun was held against his head by a drug-addled American gangster.
The former Top Gear star, 58, revealed that he was ambushed while filming in Detroit, Michigan.
And he was left shaken more than 20 years later, when he returned to the Motor City for his Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour.
He said: “I was there in 1997 and somebody held a gun against my head in Detroit.
“It’s a long complicated story, but we were trying to do some filming and some people thought we were trespassing on their turf. But it was pretty nasty.”
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But he added: “This time, 100 yards from where that happened, I was having dumplings in a goose broth.”
A source said the experience had left the BBC film crew terrified.
The insider said: “Jeremy was filming Top Gear in a ruined 18-storey railway station but was warned by cops not to go inside as there were warring gang factions operating.
“But he ignored the advice and was surrounded by gangs. Thankfully, he talked himself out of the situation.” Speaking about going back to Detroit for The Grand Tour with ex-Top Gear co-stars Richard Hammond and James May, Clarkson said the city had changed beyond recognition.
He said: “I think Detroit is such an interesting story. I’m sure if you actually lived there you wouldn’t call it interesting, you’d call it dangerous.
“But it’s got a fascinating story and now the chrome shoots of rejuvenation are growing again.
“You can actually eat quite well there, you can stay in a nice hotel, you can go short distances from A to B without being shot.”
Last year there were 261 murders in Detroit – the lowest recorded in more than 50 years.
Clarkson sparked controversy this week after saying male presenters should accept they have no chance of winning BBC jobs over their female rivals and instead go “down the bar”.
He claimed “anyone who has got a scrotum” had little chance of being hired by the corporation.
He also blamed his recent weight gain on having given up smoking, joking: “I don’t know what it is, but I live on this [e-cigarette] and I wouldn’t have thought this was calorific.”
● The Grand Tour airs on Amazon Prime Video on Friday January 18.