Jeremy Clarkson’s newest co-star Harriet Cowan has addressed claims that one of their scenes together on Clarkson’s Farm was “fake”.
The farmhand and nurse, 28, was drafted in by Clarkson, 65, during the series four premiere to help out at his 1,000 acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire while farm manager Kaleb Cooper was away.
During their introductory scene in Clarkson’s office, Cowan admitted she’d never actually watched a full episode of the hugely popular Prime Video series.
“Well, you know on YouTube you get those 'shorts' where it's like funny moments? I've seen them. I ain't got time to watch all that," she told the stunned former Top Gear host.
Cowan has now discussed the moment with Clarkson’s daughter Emily on Emily’s podcast Should I Delete That?, insisting it wasn’t scripted and was “so real”.
Emily asked: "Do you ever sit down with your boyfriend and chill together, or eat together? It sounds impossible.”
Cowan replied: "No, no. In the trailer where it's like, 'Have you watched Clarkson's Farm before?' And I'm like, 'No', it looked so fake.
"But it is so real because we don't watch telly. Literally, if we watch something, James will sit down, his head will hit the back of the sofa and he's asleep because the second he can rest, he'll sleep, because he's so tired all the time."
Cowan was brought onto the show to help out for the first two episodes because Cooper was away on his own nationwide stage tour The World According To Kaleb.
The 26-year-old highlighted some of the many challenges that British farmers face today and shared thoughts on how to make a difference and support them during the tour last year.
Clarkson said in the trailer: “I want to make it plain that I am absolutely thrilled to bits for Kaleb, but he has left me just a little bit in the lurch.”
In the introductory scene with Cowan, he said to her: “Kaleb is the farm manager and now he's gone off to be Julian Clary or Lenny Henry - do you know who Julian Clary is? Or Lenny Henry?"
"He's the bed man. Lenny Henry, he does the bed advert, don't he?" a confused Cowan replied, prompting a back and forth with Clarkson about Henry’s career.
Clarkson has since reassured fans that Cooper only left temporarily and is now back on the farm, after viewers wondered if he had been replaced.
“There’s been lots of reports that Kaleb has been ‘replaced’ – well, no he hasn’t,” Clarkson told fans.
“What happened is this: he went away on his speaking tour for a couple of months because he imagined that after four years I’d be able to manage on my own.
“And I didn’t – I made a complete mess of everything and had to bring in a young farmer called Harriet. Harriet is brilliant and looked after the fort until he got back. That is it – that’s the story!”
