Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are set to make their first public appearance together since leaving Top Gear, hosting a live motoring show in Belfast.
The trio, who have not appeared together since Clarkson left the BBC following a fracas with a producer in March, will front a live stadium spin-off of the hit BBC2 motoring show this weekend.
The three shows mark the start of a gruelling six month global tour for the event, which has been rebranded as Clarkson, Hammond and May Live.
The long-running annual tour had been called Top Gear Live, but organisers were forced to rename it and strip all BBC branding following Clarkson’s departure from the corporation.
Clarkson, who met up with Hammond and May in Belfast on Thursday ahead of the first show on Friday, has said that Top Gear fans will not be disappointed.
“There’s obviously the parade of supercars, we’ll be racing Reliant Robins,” he said, speaking on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show. “There are a million different things we are going to be doing. It’s broadly the same as it has been for the last ten years, just called another name. We’d have been doing this anyway, it’s just the name’s changed”.
However, the official website for the event points out that the show “does not take the same format as previous Top Gear Live events”.
Clarkson said that being free of the restrictions of the BBC meant that the show could take more liberties.
“It will be good fun, I genuinely think it will be good fun,” he said. “We’ve made some good films for this because we are able to make films without – what’s the word – meddling, really”.
Last month co-host May, who along with Hammond said they would not return to Top Gear without Clarkson, said that the trio expect to be “scrutinised ruthlessly” when they reunite.
Promotional material for the show, for which the cheapest tickets are £35, says:
“The show will feature a mix of beautiful cars, breathtaking stunts as well as all the irreverent humour that fans know and love from the trio. [It] showcases an extended, 90-minute arena show featuring some of the best stunts from over 10 years of touring plus some exclusive never-before-seen content”.
Clarkson has admitted that he has been listening to broadcasters about ideas for a new TV project. Netflix and ITV are the lead contenders, but he has a hectic touring schedule to get through before he can contemplate his next on-screen move.
“I’m going to be spending most of the next six months with James and Richard on an aeroplane,” he said. “We have got six months of clowning around doing live shows. We’ll need a rest because we are getting old now”.
Following Belfast, the tour heads to Sheffield, Johannesburg, South Africa and Stavanger in Norway in June. Then it goes to Australia for shows in Perth and Sydney in July, followed by Warsaw in October and ending at London’s O2 for two nights in November.
“It is the most badly organised world tour in history,” said Clarkson. “Someone needs an atlas. I think someone has done the cities in alphabetical order rather than where they are on the planet”.
A final piece of advice from the promoter to those attending: “The organiser recommends using earplugs”.
