Clarkson sidekick broke producer’s rib
JEREMY CLARKSON’S punch-up with a Top Gear producer led to his departure from the BBC.
But now the MoS can reveal that Clarkson’s diminutive co-presenter, Richard Hammond, was involved in a similar incident just months later.
Hammond – nicknamed Hamster – was involved in a ‘raucous’ play fight that left a member of the crew on Grand Tour, the Top Gear-inspired programme on Amazon fronted by Clarkson, Hammond and James May, with a broken rib.
Last night, a spokesman for Chump Productions, which produces Grand Tour, said: ‘Two and a half years ago in Namibia, there was a fairly raucous wrap party after we had finished a gruelling shoot. Play fighting did indeed ensue amongst the crew, including Richard, and a member of the crew did indeed suffer from a broken rib.
‘It remained play fighting throughout and did not get nasty. Chump did not pay any medical expenses because the event happened post-shooting during a late night party.’
The firm said the injured crew member still works on Grand Tour and insisted there was, and is, no ‘bad feeling, malice or grievance’. The same cannot be said of Clarkson’s bust-up in 2015, when he was accused of punching Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon in a Yorkshire hotel because no hot food was available after filming.
When the BBC said Clarkson’s contract would not be renewed, he, Hammond and May all jumped ship to Amazon where they signed a multimillion-pound deal for Grand Tour.