James May reveals whether he would rather travel with Richard Hammond or Jeremy Clarkson

Virgin Radio

5 Jan 2024, 12:52

James May visited Virgin Radio to talk about his new travel series, which is out now.

The presenter joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch to speak about his new Prime Video show, James May: Our Man in India. The series follows the success of James May: Our Man in Japan, and James May: Our Man in Italy. When Chris asked who, out of his Top Gear and Grand Tour pals he would take with him on another one of his travel adventures, James said: “My honest answer is I'd still rather go by myself, that's the joy of it!” 

Choosing between Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, he continued: “I actually think Hammond. I think Clarkson would be good because we're more different than Hammond than I are, but I think it would just be too painful!” 

The TV star added: “The thing I would like about taking Hammond is, Hammond is not a very good traveller. He doesn't like being in trouble. He just clams up slightly if he's in a strange place, he's very much a Ross-on-Wye person. He likes his space and he likes familiarity.

“I don't want to over-analyse Hammond’s personality, but I mean, he's a great performer. That's the thing. So he can plug himself into, not just Clarkson, me, or whoever he's with. But I don't think he would naturally go on, say, a trip around India. So, I think taking him on would be interesting.”

James noted. “I'm quite relaxed about it, and I think he'd be a good foil. But overall, I think it's something I should continue to do by myself, just in case Amazon are listening!”

James presented alongside Jeremy and Richard on Top Gear from 2003 to 2015, and has since teamed up with them for various outings on The Grand Tour. “It's an interesting dynamic with the three of us. Three is a crowd, in TV as in life,” he said.

“There's always a deciding vote, and it's not really a democracy. The key, I think, to a three-person or three-header thing like Top Gear, and then The Grand Tour, is you have to fundamentally… not dislike each other, but sort of slightly distrust each other, so that it's a little bit competitive. That's what makes the chemistry work.”

In November 2023, it was reported that the trio had finished filming their final episode of The Grand Tour. “It's a very, very delicate thing. And it has to be treated very carefully,” he said of the group’s dynamic.”

Speaking about going solo for his travel series, James said: “Now, when I'm on my own, great, because they're not going to interrupt and I can talk for ages!”

However, while the presenter is without his two regular co-hosts, he’s not entirely alone, as he is working with his tired-and-trusted crew. “The nature of TV has changed. What we do, and it's slightly gratuitous in a way, is that we dismantled the format. We did the same thing with the cooking show [James May: Oh Cook!], we sort of exposed the pale underbelly of it. We're very careful with it, but the fourth wall thing with the crew, I've been working with those people for 15 years. Everything I've done outside of the car show has been with that hardcore of director, cameras, sound and so on. So, we sort of understand each other there's a bit of needle going on.

“So yes, we sort of dismantle it slightly. And we try not to put any pretence on it. It's very easy to go to, well, any country but let's say India, since we're talking about it, together and say, ‘Oh, look at this, this is wonderful. This is so mystical. This is so spiritual. This is so cultural’. And it's sort of phoney if you're not careful, because  it's tourism and tourism is a bit like tradition. It’s slightly made up.”

James May: Our Man In India is out now on Prime Video.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.