Jeremy Clarkson has become a noticeably more relaxed figure since swapping his globe-trotting motoring adventures for countryside living, according to his longtime colleague and Clarkson's Farm executive producer Andy Wilman.
Longtime Collaborator Shares Insights
Wilman, who worked with Clarkson for decades on Top Gear and The Grand Tour before reuniting with him on the hit Amazon series Clarkson's Farm, revealed that the presenter is currently in 'the sweetest spot' of his career. The reality show follows Clarkson, 66, and his team as they manage the daily challenges of running Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Wilman was asked by host Jake Humphrey whether the Jeremy Clarkson seen on Clarkson's Farm is the same personality who led Top Gear. Wilman replied: 'Same skills as we've discussed. Different? Yes, he is. You see a calmer man, I see the rushes.'
A Calmer Presence On and Off Camera
Wilman explained that while Clarkson still amps up his energy when cameras are rolling, there is a clear transformation once filming ends. 'I see a calmer man. When the camera goes on, obviously, he goes up a notch to perform and talk, but you see a calmer man. He's constantly talking about the love of the farm with the film crew. He's absolutely in the sweetest spot, so it is a different Jeremy, short answer.'
According to Wilman, Clarkson's enthusiasm for farming has helped bring out this calmer side. 'The farm has kind of brought it out more. It's enhanced it. I think Top Gear Jeremy was mental, mental, then nothing. Grand Tour, then nothing. I think you'd get an agitated Jeremy, right, because he's programmed to work. He's programmed to do.'
Farming Provides Purpose Without Pressure
The producer indicated that farming gives Clarkson the sense of purpose he craves without the stresses and constant travel linked to his earlier TV ventures. 'And the farm is the best green run, ski slope descent into calmness that you could ever have because it's still work. It still requires a lot of effort and brain power, but all he's got to do is step out of his front door and he's at work without having to get on the plane and go to Mauritania, and have a crew of eight million and all that stuff. That gets wearing, that kind of thing.'
Wilman noted that many crew members on Clarkson's Farm previously worked on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, but the pace of life is markedly different. 'He's got veterans from Top Gear and Grand Tour. And their days are they'll film a scene, like, let's say, move goats or cow birth or something, and then after that's done, they're going to have a cup of coffee and sometimes they go, what should we do next?'
For Clarkson, that more relaxed tempo combined with purposeful work has proven the perfect formula. 'They're going to do something, but then they have to have a think about it, and it's like. That's just joy for somebody who wants to work. But he's not got like a newspaper deadline or the weight of the world's expectations on him,' he added.
