Jeremy Clarkson has claimed he has “no clue” who Beyoncé and Jay-Z are, despite reports the superstar couple are set to become his new neighbours in the Cotswolds.
The Clarkson’s Farm star was speaking to press including The Standard at the National Television Awards at London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday night, where he collected the gong for Best Factual Entertainment.
Asked about the possibility of the Carters moving into his patch of Oxfordshire, the broadcaster was blunt. “I have literally no f***ing clue who they are. I mean, I have vaguely heard of Beyoncé and Jay Zed, but I honestly have no clue who they are,” he said.
Clarkson, 64, added: “Everybody says the Cotswolds has been taken over by celebrities, and I don’t see them. We don’t see them. I look out of my window in the morning, you don’t see them. Okay, they have got a house five miles away. It is like saying Fulham is being taken over.
“I don’t care. It is a really nice part of the country. It has not been ruined, and we are very, very lucky to live there.”
According to reports, Beyoncé, 44, and Jay-Z, 55, are in the final stages of purchasing a 58-acre plot on the edge of Wigginton, a village with fewer than 200 residents. They are said to have secured planning permission for a seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion overlooking a lake, described as a “spectacular rural estate.”
If the deal goes through, the couple — estimated to be the world’s richest celebrity pairing — would join an array of stars who have already made the Cotswolds their retreat from city life. The Beckhams own a £6 million Great Tew estate, while supermodel Kate Moss has lived in a Grade II listed house there since 2021. Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi reportedly bought a £15 million farmhouse in the area last year.
Local reaction has so far been mixed. One resident told the Daily Mail he did not “give a flying toss,” while a worker at the Falkland Arms in Great Tew told The Times they feared the arrival of the couple could change the local atmosphere.
Reports suggest the Carters began looking at homes in the UK following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, with the Cotswolds’ privacy, rolling hills and space proving attractive. Whether the couple settle into village life or remain behind tall gates, locals will soon find out if two of the biggest names in music are about to call their corner of Oxfordshire home.
Elsewhere at the NTAs, Strictly Come Dancing scooped Best Talent Show, Molly Mae Hague win for reality series The Diary of Molly Mae, and Gary Lineker beat Ant and Dec to take home Best Presenter.
