Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he spent hours consoling his partner, Lisa Hogan, following the heartbreaking loss of a beloved sheep, shattering what he had anticipated would be an idyllic family weekend at their home. In his Sunday Times column, Clarkson explained he had been eagerly looking forward to hosting his grandchildren, enjoying pleasant weather, and dining al fresco after forecasts promised glorious sunshine.
A Perfect Weekend Derailed
Recalling how the weekend began, Clarkson wrote: "It was all set to be quite literally the most perfect weekend." He said he momentarily felt detached from broader political and international issues as he watched his family savour time outdoors. "I know that as a newspaperman I'm supposed to focus on the various wars and Labour's uselessness and Donald Trump's lunacy and which will finish Britain off first: the out-of-control immigration or the out-of-control benefits system," he wrote. Yet as he relaxed outside with a beverage, watching his granddaughters romp through the fields with farm animals, he confessed: "the world's problems did seem very far away. I was as happy as I've ever been."
Everything changed dramatically following a telephone call concerning one of Hogan's beloved Valais blacknose sheep, which had contracted mastitis and was unable to nurse her lambs. Clarkson described how the ewe needed to be separated from the field with her young and housed in a temporary maternity space within a barn while receiving antibiotic treatment. The unforeseen work threw the evening into chaos, leaving insufficient time to prepare dinner and compelling the family to order a takeaway instead.
A Morning of Heartbreak
The next morning, Clarkson revealed he had intended to take his three-year-old granddaughter to gather eggs from the chickens before making breakfast with farm-fresh ingredients. Those plans rapidly fell apart when he inspected the sheep and discovered its condition had deteriorated overnight. Detailing the seriousness of the ailment, he wrote: "I don't want to spoil your breakfast, but her sickly teat had swollen to the point where it looked like Ron Jeremy's gentleman sausage."
Following a vet's arrival, Clarkson explained the animal's mastitis had become gangrenous, and euthanasia was the only option. "So we did that and I had to spend the next hour hugging Lisa, who was distraught," he wrote, adding: "She truly loves her Valais blacknoses."
Aftermath and Lambs
Clarkson and Hogan were subsequently left tending to the sheep's orphaned lambs, bottle-feeding them following their mother's death. He noted that Norman, an orphaned lamb already accustomed to bottle feeding after his mother's rejection, proved straightforward to handle. The recently orphaned lambs, though, were more resistant as they continued seeking their mother. "They wanted their mum's milk, but that wasn't possible because she was under a tarpaulin in the corner of the yard, awaiting the arrival of the knackerman," Clarkson wrote.
The chaotic morning also threw family mealtimes into disarray, with Clarkson confessing the delay meant lunch arrangements collapsed entirely. "By the time they stopped wriggling and we got something into their tummies, it was too late to make lunch for the family, so we had some crisps."
Clarkson's Farm Returns
The television personality recently spoke to Heart Breakfast presenters Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden about the forthcoming series of his popular reality programme Clarkson's Farm, which chronicles his management of Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Clarkson said: "It is the most dramatic one of the shows we have done so far. It gets more and more dramatic towards the end. Yeah, I'll say no more than that."
The show, which debuted in 2021, highlights the challenges facing British farmers and the costs involved in running a farm. Clarkson's Farm returns to Prime Video on Wednesday, June 3.
