‘The Grand Tour’ Producer Recalls “Fight” With BBC To Keep Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May Together After ‘Top Gear’ Imploded
deadline.comAndy Wilman has been reflecting on the turmoil in the weeks after Jeremy Clarkson punched a Top Gear producer and was fired by the BBC.
The BBC was plunged into crisis in 2015 when the Top Gear “fracas” paved the way for Clarkson and co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May to join Amazon Prime Video to launch The Grand Tour.
Wilman, then Top Gear’s executive producer, also moved over. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the executive producer revealed he had to “fight” the BBC to keep the trio of presenters together.
The British broadcaster battled to lock down Hammond and May, with former creative director Alan Yentob playing a pivotal role in the talks. “We were fighting the BBC, and they wanted to keep Richard and James so that we would be broken up.
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