James May has opened up about the decision he, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond made to no longer work together.
The trio first collaborated on the BBC motoring show Top Gear, and stuck together as a presenting team when the broadcaster chose not to renew Clarkson’s contract after he assaulted a producer on the show while filming on location back in 2015.
Since then, they appeared together for almost a decade in Amazon’s The Grand Tour, but recently made their final on-screen appearance together in the finale special One For The Road.
Now that the three seem to have well and truly put their professional relationship behind them, May told The Times he’s not “in mourning” over the separation.
“I think Jeremy, Richard and I gave the format a really good thrashing and now it’s time to let a younger generation have a go,” he told the publication.
“The idea was to land the car show format safely and not fly it into a cliff. We only cleared the cliff by a few feet but I think it will survive.”
May added that he’s got plans of his own that separating from his colleagues has helped to make possible.
“There is still so much I’m interested in — things I’ve neglected while rolling my eyes at Jeremy in exotic locations,” he shared.
The presenter also told The Times that he feels the show needs a fresh perspective.
“I do my best to be a contemporary human being and embrace new ideas, but we were very much rooted in an Eighties and Nineties view of what motoring is about,” he commented.
“It needs a fresh take because the subject has never been more interesting.”
In an interview held in October this year, May denied Top Gear was “sexist,” saying: “I certainly don’t feel obliged to go round apologising for being an old white man, because I can operate a screw-cutting lathe and most people can’t.”
He also spoke out about the BBC’s decision not to renew Top Gear after an on-set accident left presenter Freddie Flintoff seriously injured.
