James May's blunt response about post- Top Gear friendship with Jeremy Clarkson and net worth

After the triumphant finale of the Grand Tour in 2024, which saw the end of the presenting trio James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond working together, James is now back on our screens with his new Channel 5 show James May's Great Explorers. The show begins on Thursday, February 13, at 9pm on Channel 4.

James actually has a very surprising link to Wales having attended school in a Welsh city. James was born in Bristol in 1963 and attended Caerleon Endowed School in Newport. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.

He then moved to south Yorkshire and before becoming a motor journalist had some unexpected jobs. James studied music at Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano.

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After graduating James briefly worked in a hospital in London, as a records officer, and also worked in the civil service before becoming a journalist. James first began working with Jeremy and Richard, who had already presented the first series of the revival of Top Gear, on Top Gear in 2003.

Despite their brutal on-screen banter and jibes at each other, the trio remained firmly together and when Jeremy was dismissed from the show in 2015, James and Richard went with him, refusing to work on the show without Jeremy. Co-creator of Top Gear and TV producer Andy Wilman also went with them and all four signed a deal with Amazon to make a new car show, called The Grand Tour.

The Grand Tour began in 2016 and continued until 2024, with 36 episodes released in total. Many fans were devastated to see The Grand Tour come to an end and recently talking about the series James gave a very blunt response.

Appearing on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch to promote James May's Great Explorers, James was asked about why The Grand Tour ended. He said: "I just couldn't stand them!"

James went on to explain: "I've said this many times. We always said, between us, that we would end it with some race, hopefully, rather than fly into the White Cliffs of Dover, desperately trying to keep it along and I think we just about managed that.

"We'd exhausted the subject, we are getting on a bit. I believe it's time for a new generation to find a new take - I don't know what it is... You can't overstay your welcome. You're supposed to leave the audience wanting more. It's the rule of show business."

It has been reported that James is worth a whopping £32,023,953 which is 40 million dollars. His impressive net worth comes from Top Gear, The Grand Tour, his other programmes including James May's Big Ideas, James May: Oh Cook! and James May on the Moon, and he has published more than 15 books.