Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at claims that the Cotswolds have been ruined by celebrities flocking to live in the area.
Appearing at the National Television Awards in London on Wednesday night, where his show Clarkson’s Farm won in the Factual Entertainment category, Clarkson told the press: “Everybody says the Cotswolds is being taken over by celebrities and you just think, I don’t see them.”
The former Top Gear presenter, whose Diddly Squat farm and Farmer’s Dog pub are located in the Cotswolds area, said of local celebrities: “We don’t see them. I look out of my window in the morning – you don’t see them.”
“OK, they have got a house five miles away. It is like saying Fulham is being taken over,” he added.
Asked about the recent reports that suggest Beyoncé and Jay-Z are buying a 58-acre plot in the area, Clarkson claimed he didn’t know who the superstar couple were.
“I have literally no f***ing clue who they are,” he said, via Mail Online. “I mean, I have vaguely heard of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, but I honestly have no clue who they are.”
The Independent has contacted the couple’s representatives for comment.
In recent years, the area has become a haven for A-listers due to its privacy and idyllic setting. Great Tew, a village near the Cotswolds, is home to stars including David Beckham, Simon Cowell and the former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
The Cotswolds have become even more appealing due to the boom in gastronomic pub restaurants, with several Michelin-starred chefs setting up kitchens in the area, alongside the opening of Soho House’s fashionable Farmhouse members’ club location in 2015.
At the National Television Awards, Clarkson’s Farm won in the Factual Entertainment category, beating out Gogglebox, The Martin Lewis Money Show, and Stacey Solomon’s two programmes, Sort Your Life Out and Stacey & Joe.
This week, Clarkson claimed that his pub had lost £27,000 to hackers, who had broken into the company’s accounting system and stolen the funds.
Writing in his column for The Sun, Clarkson said: “So, Jaguar Land Rover had to shut down its production lines this week after systems were breached by computer hackers.”
“And we are told similar attacks were launched in recent months on both M&S and the Co-op. But no one thought to mention that my pub, The Farmer’s Dog, has been hit too.”
He claimed that the hackers “broke into our accounting system and helped themselves to £27,000”.
Clarkson recently admitted to entrepreneurial struggles, claiming he “doesn’t understand” business.
“I’m done with business now,” he said in a new interview with The Times. “I am not starting another business as long as I live.”
Last year, the presenter described the process of becoming a pub landlord as terribly stressful, and said there are many inconveniences that “you don’t think about”.
See the full list of this year’s National Television Awards winners here.
