Jeremy Clarkson admits he will be off work for “quite some time” after ending up in hospital with pneumonia just days before filming of the Grand Tour was meant to recommence.
Jeremy Clarkson was admitted to hospital on Friday after coming down with pneumonia while on holiday on the Spanish island of Majorca, it has been confirmed.
News of the 57-year-old’s hospitalisation surfaced on Sunday evening, where it was discovered he was being treated for the dangerous bacterial infection, which causes inflammation of the tissue in one or both lungs.
Speaking to his friend Jemima Goldsmith on Twitter, Clarkson revealed that he was “in a wheelchair, connected up to tubes, in a hospital”.
I could send you one but it’s of me in a wheelchair, connected up to tubes, in a hospital. Better?
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) August 4, 2017
“To keep you up to date, I’ll be out of action for quite some time apparently,” he said in a follow-up statement. “It’s really annoying because I’ve never had one day off work since I started in 1978.”
The 57-year-old ex-Top Gear and current Grand Tour presenter also thanked fans for “all the good wishes”. His daughter Emily had to write his latest weekly column in the Sunday Times.
Filming for the new series of the Grand Tour was meant to begin within a week, but Clarkson’s photo of his arm shows a hospital tag and intravenous cannula and the caption “not the sort of bangles I usually choose on holiday”, suggesting there could be a delay.
James May is currently the only one of the three Grand Tour hosts who has avoided getting himself hurt before season 2, although he managed to break his arm before filming the very first episode of season 1.
47-year-old Richard Hammond recently crashed a Rimac Concept One electric hypercar, an accident he is still being treated for in Switzerland where it took place. Before that, he knocked himself out while riding a motorcycle.
In his usual jokey style, Clarkson commented that May was the only “functioning member” of the Grand Tour presenting team, before adding: “God help us.”
Since the news broke, fans of Clarkson have urged him to give up smoking and look after himself, although friends are said to have attempted to put him on a healthier life path before to no avail.
A relative of the 6ft5 presenter from Doncaster had been tweeting from Clarkson’s Twitter account earlier on in the family holiday. Messages included “Majorca is #lit lol” and “dab it on wagwan x 100” – neither of which are very middle-aged man.
Dab on it wagwan x ? pic.twitter.com/pGvtjSHL5p
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 24, 2017
Clarkson was partly responsible for making Top Gear a global hit. After punching a producer, the BBC avoided renewing his contract and Hammond and May subsequently chose to leave the BBC, which lead to the arrival of the Amazon Prime motoring show, the Grand Tour.
The first season of the Grand Tour is available to watch now. Top Gear, meanwhile, is now presented by Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and ex-Recombu editor-in-chief, Rory Reid.
The revamped Top Gear‘s lead host was originally Chris Evans of BBC Radio 2 fame, but he quit after it was clear fans were somewhat displeased with his performance.
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