Top Gear star Steve Berry admits he ‘never got along’ with co-star Jeremy Clarkson and reveals why the writing was on the wall for BBC show once he launched The Grand Tour
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By CAROLINA PIRAS, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER
Top Gear star Steve Berry revealed him and Jeremy Clarkson ‘never got along’ during their time together on the BBC show.
The British motoring journalist, 61, made the candid admission while chatting during a special interview for Al Arabiya News.
The car enthusiast didn’t go soft while describing his former colleague, 65, and said his selfish qualities were what made him ‘unique’ and appealing to Top Gear bosses.
Describing in detail how he first met with the TV personality, he explained: ‘The first shoot that I went along on was presented by a certain Mr. Jeremy Clarkson.
‘And I’ll never forget this, he turned up two hours late. I turned up half an hour early because I wanted to impress.
‘He turned up to hours late and the crew were fuming. Absolutely fuming. I thought. “Right, make a point, don’t do that because you want the crew on your side.”‘
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Top Gear star Steve Berry revealed him and Jeremy Clarkson ‘never got along’ during their time together on the BBC show
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The car enthusiast didn’t go soft while describing his former colleague and said his selfish qualities were what made him ‘unique’ and appealing to Top Gear bosses
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Steve also claimed the presenter’s on-screen behaviour is an accurate representation of who he is off-camera.
He added: ‘You couldn’t act that persona for all the years that he has.
‘He is kind of like that, and like I said, even though he and I never really got on together.
‘The last time I met him in person, there was a bar, it was at a car show and there was an open bar and he said: “Berry, people know we don’t like each other, I’ll buy you a pint and we’ll stand over there pretending we like each other”.’
Steve admitted Top Gear struggled to compete when Clarkson and his two co-hosts, James May and Richard Hammond, started work on Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour.
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‘The problem with car shows is, if you looked at Grand Tour or Top Gear, you have to go around the world to impress people.
‘You can’t just go in the car park or in the garden or in a kitchen. You have to like the salt flats in Namibia or the North Pole or somewhere like that.
‘Or else people are like, “oh, well, this isn’t as good as the Grand Tour”. They set a standard.’
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On his first day on Top Gear, he recalled: ‘(Jeremy) turned up two hours late. I turned up half an hour early because I wanted to impress. He turned up to hours late and the crew were fuming’
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‘The last time I met him in person at a bar, it was at a car show and there was an open bar and he said: ‘Berry, people know we don’t like each other, I’ll buy you a pint and we’ll stand over there pretending we like each’,’ Steve said
And yet, the motoring legend had nothing but ‘respect’ for Jeremy.
‘Do you know what? I said, again, I said I don’t like him, but I respect him. I think Clarkson, Hammond and May quit at exactly the right time.
‘It was just on the cusp of them starting to, some of the ideas were coming around for the second or third time.
‘There was still an engaging watch, but I thought, when they quit, I thought oh, that’s good timing.’
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‘I don’t like him, but I respect him. I think Clarkson, Hammond and May quit at exactly the right time’ (James May, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson on Grand Tour in 2021)
