Jeremy Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, and farmer, celebrated for hosting the motoring programmes Top Gear (2002–2015) and The Grand Tour (2016–2024) alongside Richard Hammond and James May. After starting as a local journalist, he rose to fame on the original Top Gear in the late 1980s, and his 2002 relaunch of the show with producer Andy Wilman became the world's most widely-broadcast factual television programme. In 2015, the BBC declined to renew his contract after he assaulted a producer, prompting him to form W. Chump & Sons and pivot to Amazon Prime Video with The Grand Tour. A quirky early-life fact is that his parents funded his private schooling at Repton by selling Paddington Bear toys, after his father met author Michael Bond in a lift and secured a licensing deal. Today, he hosts the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and the hit farming series Clarkson's Farm, which inspired the "Clarkson's clause" in May 2024, easing planning rules for converting agricultural buildings to commercial use. Known for his humorous but controversial tongue-in-cheek style, Clarkson remains a polarising yet hugely popular public figure, credited with revitalising Top Gear into a global phenomenon.