MOTOR MOUTH
Clarkson gears up for SA
JEREMY Clarkson cannot wait to sit down to a piping hot steak at one of his favourite Johannesburg restaurants.
And after the fracas involving a steak that led to the BBC sacking him from the highly popular motoring show Top Gear, the whole world knows how important a hot meal is to the controversial star.
The BBC fired him in March after he swore at and punched a Top Gear producer, Oisin Tymon, who Clarkson accused of having failed to organise hot food for him during a shoot in Yorkshire.
Clarkson’s two co-presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, have also quit the show.
Now the trio are heading to Johannesburg as part of an international tour that is effectively Top Gear under a new name — Clarkson, Hammond & May Live.
It will be their first visit to Gauteng in four years, after performing in the Top Gear Festival in Durban for several years.
They are set to perform in four shows, from Friday June 12, at the Ticketpro Dome in Northgate.
Top of Clarkson’s list of things to do in South Africa is visit what he says is his favourite Sandton restaurant, The Butcher Shop & Grill.
“I worked out the other day that the foreign city I’ve been to most often is Johannesburg. I’ve been there more than I’ve been to Paris, which is remarkable,” he said.
Organisers of the new 90minute arena show say it will feature all the supercars, stunts, explosions, tyre smoke and irreverent humour that fans have come to expect.
The creative director, Rowland French, said: “The three presenters have been working incredibly hard to make sure it’s better than ever before, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing them back doing what they do best.”
Clarkson said the show would be “really, really, really good fun”.
“After many years of practice, it’s a good show now. People are appreciative of it when it’s over and say: ‘That was good fun.’ Although a friend of mine did once describe it as every headache he’d ever had, condensed into an hour and a half,” he said.
“People think that to sell tickets and do arena shows, you’ve got to have white teeth and bouffant hair, which of course Richard does have.
“But James and I are a re- assurance to the audience that it’s OK, you can still do it even if you’re a bit fat and you look 20 years older than you actually are. I’m only 32. We give people hope. They look at themselves in the mirror and say: ‘I am a disgrace. I look awful, but those two also look awful.’ ”
Clarkson added: “The people in South Africa are fantastic. For the sheer volume of appreciative noises, South Africa’s the best.”
Hammond also sang the praises of South African fans.
“They’re not going to stop themselves having a good time by being restrained. They’ve gone out for a good time, and they’re going to make sure they have one,” he said.
The trio have been filming in the UK for the live show. A promotional video is due to hit South African screens next week.
They will be joined on the tour — which also takes in Australia and Norway — by American rally driver Ken Block, who will be bringing his highly modified Ford Mustang.
Clarkson has previously courted criticism by, among other things, referring to an Asian man by the pejorative term “slope”.
Last year he was taped reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, and saying “Catch a n***** by his toe” as he chose between two cars.
According to The Guardian, Clarkson called BBC executives “f****** bastards” at a charity event after he was suspended from Top Gear. — Rebecca Banks and Staff Reporter
The foreign city I’ve been to most often is Johannesburg. I’ve been there more than I’ve been to Paris, which is remarkable