James May on what he thinks about Top Gear’s new hosts – and why female fans fell in love with Jeremy Clarkson and co
TOP Gear recorded its highest-ever ratings when James May was part of the presenting team alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.
And the long-haired petrolhead insists that a good proportion of their viewers were women, hitting back at claims from current host Paddy McGuinness that the BBC motoring show is more appealing to female audiences these days.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, James, 59, said: “We always had a lot of women following us, but I don’t think it was because of the way we looked or dressed.
“They were either into cars or liked the crap jokes. We were definitely not a ‘bloke show’.”
Paddy last month told The Sun his co-host Freddie Flintoff was the big draw for female fans, labelling him “eye candy”.
So who was the “eye candy” out of James, Jeremy and Richard?
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James says: “None of us! I’ve never heard anyone describe any of us as ‘eye candy’. We’re not going to be on the front of GQ or Tatler or something like that.
“I don’t think that’s why people watch us. In fact, I’m absolutely convinced.”
The star goes solo in new Prime Video show James May: Our Man In Italy, a follow-up to his 2020 series on Japan.
James toured Italy for almost three months, getting stuck into regional pastimes and local food, from the Sicilian capital of Palermo to the peaks of the Dolomite mountains.
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‘Acres of food’
Having made the most of the local cuisine, James went on a health kick once back in Blighty.
He says: “It’s difficult in Italy because they throw cakes, biscuits and pasta at you. It’s a world of carbohydrates.
“I don’t understand why Italians aren’t all the size of houses.
“There was always far too much food. It was a bit like America in that respect.
“When we were filming, someone would say, ‘Let’s have a short break for lunch’ and there would be enough food for 30 or 40 people, but there were eight of us. Just acres of food.”
And because James was always told as a child to “finish his plate”, he rarely had leftovers.
He says: “It’s something to do with the way I was brought up. I don’t like leaving food. I think it’s wasteful.
“I work for a food charity once a week because I feel quite strongly about it.
“It’s a mark of respect that you’re not able to finish it all because your host is so generous.”
James also immerses himself in Italian fashion for the series, which can be viewed in full from July 15.
In Sicily he experiments with flat caps, then dresses as a knight for an opera production — perhaps the most dashing James has ever looked.
Often targeted by trolls over his unique style, James says: “Twitter is full of people telling me to get a haircut, iron my clothes and make myself look more presentable.
“I do struggle with it. If I go into clothes shops, I look at shoes and jackets and I think, ‘Wow, this is all fantastic. They’re amazing colourful shirts; I must have this jacket’.
“But I’m only really comfortable if I wear a knackered pair of jeans and a baggy T-shirt. I like to feel like I’m not wearing any clothes.”
He adds: “I’m not a clothes horse. I’m not the right shape for it. I’m too barrel-chested, my head’s too big and I have orangutan arms. The only way I can get a shirt to fit really well is to get a friend of mine, who’s a clothes designer, to make one for me.
“But then I get fat because I’ve been to Italy and they don’t fit me either!”
Something James has in common with Italian fashionistas is his famous mane — which has become his signature look over the years.
James says he may take a style cue from footie star Jack Grealish by experimenting with an Alice band.
But he is still haunted by an earlier brush with hair accessories when he was accused of copying another glamorous footballer’s look.
He says: “When I was younger, about ten years ago — when my hair was dark and lustrous — I used to wear a headband like David Beckham.
“But I had to stop wearing it because it looked like I was trying to imitate him.
“But actually, you push it right over your head like the girls did at school when I was a kid. You pull it up so it’s like a bandana.
“It’s actually really useful if you’re cooking or in the workshop because you’re keeping the hair out of your face and out of the machinery without the complication of a ponytail.”
On the possibility of a man-bun, James jokes: “Somebody tried to do it to me the other day. I have a few mates who do it.
‘Won’t keep me awake’
“I’d look like one of those topknots old sailors had, but it might be worth a go.”
James admits any new look would be mocked by his old pals Jeremy and Richard, who he continues to work with on his other Prime Video project, motoring show The Grand Tour.
Asked how they would react if he strolled into filming wearing an Alice band, he says: “They would have a very unenlightened, non-woke view of it.
“But I don’t really care much about what Clarkson and Hammond think to be honest. It’s not going to keep me awake.”
The trio have been working together for decades and there is no sign of them splitting up any time soon.
They have all worked on solo projects away from The Grand Tour, with Clarkson’s Farm in particular earning plaudits.
Has James ever been tempted to get into the farming business?
“Christ no,” he says. “Farming is just big gardening in my view. I’m not going anywhere near that.”
Though close, James says neither Jeremy, 62, nor Richard, 52, are likely to make any effort for his 60th birthday next year.
Indeed, he has only ever received one gift from the pair of them.
He says: “If I invited them to a party, they would probably come. I’m not saying I would. They wouldn’t do anything for me.
“I remember on my 55th birthday Hammond gave me a second-hand pencil and a drawing of a balloon he made.
“That’s the only birthday gift I’ve ever had from the other two.
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“Jeremy’s not even bought me a beer. We just don’t care. We’re far too manly to think about people’s birthdays.
“Honestly, when I wake up on my birthday, I don’t think, ‘Oh no, J.C. and R.H. haven’t sent me a card’. I don’t think about it. It’s not significant.”
- James May: Our Man In Italy launches on July 15 on Prime Video.
JUVE DONE SO WELL
JAMES MAY laces up football boots for the first time ever in his new show.
He visited Juventus’ training ground in Turin and had a penalty shootout with his Italian guide Paulo, who is half his age.
Unlike some Englishmen, James was surprisingly accomplished from the spot, placing the ball in the top corner.
But he insisted: “I’m not very sporty. I haven’t learned the technique of hitting the ball very hard, so I have to do it in a slightly devious fashion – and it worked, as it went into the top corner.
“It got quite tense in the end. Paulo, my guide, is 25 years younger than me and does play football and is a big Juventus fan so it was properly important to him – and he only just beat me. It’s over 25 years since I had a game of football. I’ve kicked a ball a few times.
“The last time was a game of five-a-side as a university student in 1985.”
While at the Juventus HQ, he taught club legend and ex-Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini, left, how to make a cuppa.
James said: “We were only supposed to have him officially for ten minutes but he was a proper sport and played along with it. He didn’t know we were going to do the cup-of-tea challenge.
“He could have stormed off – a lot of people would – but he went along with it and it was great.
“It was the only victory I could score over Italy. They can’t make a decent cup of tea. They really can’t.”