Jeremy Clarkson and his The Grand Tour co-stars Richard Hammond and James May went for days without needing to pee as they filmed their penultimate series in the extreme heat of the Sahara Desert.
Presenters Jeremy, 63, Richard, 54, and James, 61, travelled to wild and remote country of Mauritania, in West Africa, for The Grand Tour: Sand Job, which is set for release on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 16 February.
Their challenge was to follow in the footsteps of the world’s most dangerous race, the iconic Paris-Dakar, but instead of competing in bespoke, hand built Dakar racers, the trio attempted to complete their journey in second hand sports cars, modified by themselves.
While they all encountered problems with their motors along the way, the extreme conditions they filmed in made the project especially tough.
Despite endlessly drinking water during the trip, Jeremy admitted it suddenly dawned on him he hadn’t needed to use the toilet for days as he was so dehydrated.
Jeremy Clarkson and his The Grand Tour co-stars Richard Hammond and James May went for days without needing to pee as they filmed in the extreme heat of the Sahara Desert (L-R: James, Jeremy and Richard)
Presenters Jeremy, 63, Richard, 54, and James, 61, travelled to wild and remote country of Mauritania, in West Africa, for The Grand Tour: Sand Job (Richard pictured)
Their challenge was to follow in the footsteps of the world’s most dangerous race, the iconic Paris-Dakar, attempting to complete their journey in second hand sports cars
He explained: ‘You know, the funny thing is you don’t get filthy in a desert. It’s a very strange thing but sand is incredibly clean.
‘We’ve experienced this in the Atacama and the Gobi and the Nomad and all the places we’ve driven over the years. You don’t get dirty. But it was b**ody tough.
‘We drank litres and litres of water, and we didn’t pee. I mean, I don’t know where it was going.
‘Hammond said after three or four days, ‘I’m going to have a pee’ and I suddenly thought, ‘I haven’t had a pee this whole time.”
He added: ‘When people go to see the Northern Lights, for example, they boast that it was minus 30 and you think ‘No, it wasn’t, it was minus six’ or they say it was 50 degrees somewhere hot and you go, ‘No, it was maybe 38 in the midday sun.’
‘Well, this really was 50 degrees in the shade.
‘You never see the locals during the day, ever. We hardly saw anybody at all but if we did occasionally encounter a small village, it would have maybe six or seven huts and everyone would be inside them all day. They venture out only after the sun has set because it’s so hot.’
‘We actually all quite like being in a desert. We like the dust and the sand and the heat. It’s exhausting, but it’s all the things that T.E. Lawrence talked about, he said ‘the desert cleans you and it’s pure’, and I think that’s true. We all slightly get off on that and we feel like we’re being really heroic and manly.’
While they all encountered problems with their motors along the way, the extreme conditions they filmed in made the project especially tough (Jeremy pictured)
Despite endlessly drinking water during the trip, Jeremy (left) admitted it suddenly dawned on him he hadn’t needed to use the toilet for days as he was so dehydrated (pictured with Richard, right)
He explained: ‘You know, the funny thing is you don’t get filthy in a desert. It’s a very strange thing but sand is incredibly clean’
‘We’ve experienced this in the Atacama and the Gobi and the Nomad and all the places we’ve driven over the years. You don’t get dirty. But it was b**ody tough,’ he said (James pictured)
James also encountered problems when it came to hydration, admitting he too noticed he was not needing the loo despite drinking plenty.
He said: ‘We did go a few days without a proper wee, and I’m someone who likes to urinate freely. I mean, not in my trousers, but I don’t like to hold it in.
‘When we did wee it sort of came out as dust.’
For the special, Jeremy opted for a Jaguar F Type V6, Richard too went British with an Aston Martin Volante V12, whilst James took a punt on Italy with a Maserati.
The trio reported to the northern part of Mauritania, inside the perilous Foreign Office Red Zone, where their cars were delivered on the world’s longest iron ore train, a 1.2 mile monster that travels this Mauritania’s only railway line.
From there, Jeremy, James and Richard headed into the Sahara, south for Senegal and the famous finish line on the beach of Dakar.
Jeremy was so lucky with his car that he decided to buy one for himself when he returned home to the UK.
He said: ‘The Jaguar F-Type V6 Supercharged VS. Well put it like this: it was so impressive, I came home and bought one immediately. And I don’t think Hammond bought an Aston Martin afterwards.
‘We drank litres and litres of water, and we didn’t pee. I mean, I don’t know where it was going. ‘Hammond said after three or four days, ‘I’m going to have a pee’ and I suddenly thought, ‘I haven’t had a pee this whole time.” (Jeremy, left, and Richard, right)
For the special, Jeremy opted for a Jaguar F Type V6, Richard too went British with an Aston Martin Volante V12, whilst James took a punt on Italy with a Maserati (L-R: Jeremy, James and Richard)
Jeremy is seen leaning over bottles of water
The trio reported to the northern part of Mauritania, inside the perilous Foreign Office Red Zone, where their cars were delivered on the world’s longest iron ore train (L-R: Jeremy and Richard pictured)
From there, Jeremy, James and Richard (pictured) headed into the Sahara, south for Senegal and the famous finish line on the beach of Dakar
Jeremy was so lucky with his car that he decided to buy one for himself when he returned home to the UK
Jeremy looked wind swept and covered in dust in the special
Viewers will see them make the perilous river crossing
They are set to take on their biggest challenge yet in the show
‘The other two made unwise choices, as usual. The Jaguar was so tough and so unbreakable. I discovered something interesting: Jaguar has a reputation for making flimsy cars, cars that fall to pieces, it has this reputation for unreliability, so I couldn’t understand why my car was so capable.
‘I did some checking, and it turns out that at the time this car was made, Jaguar Land Rover – which is one company – had one test that a car had to pass before it could go on sale which is all to do with mounting curbs at high speed and running over potholes and biffing into things. And the test was designed for the Range Rover, but the Jaguar had to pass the same test. So they are extraordinarily strong.
‘I cannot lavish enough praise on that car. I brought back the one I drove in Mauritania too, I have it at the farm.’
It comes after Jeremy broke his silence after quitting Prime Video’s The Grand Tour after five series.
The star signed a big money deal with the streaming service in 2015 to continue his motoring adventures with former Top Gear co-hosts Richard and James.
But now the trio’s 20-year-long partnership will draw to a close after Jeremy revealed there was nothing else for them to do.
He told The Times: ‘I’ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else. We’ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air.’
He also branded himself ‘unfit, fat and old’ as another reason that it was time for the ‘immensely physical’ show to end, following the hosts camping on beaches and racing speed boats in pervious series.
They take on a series of challenges on the show including a river crossing
Jeremy has finally broken his silence after quitting Prime Video’s The Grand Tour after five series
Jeremy (C) signed a big money deal with the streaming service in 2015 to continue his motoring adventures with former Top Gear co-hosts Richard Hammond (R) and James May (L)
Jeremy brushed off any suggestions of a feud with his co-hosts saying: ‘We’ve spent more time in each other’s company than our families’ over the last 25 years.
‘So I don’t think it would have lasted as long as it did if we’d hated each other as much as James likes to think.’
An insider told The Sun last year that the ‘surprising’ decision ‘very much marks the end of an era for the three presenters’, who have worked together since 2003.
They added that although the show is one of the streaming platform’s most watched shows ‘the guys have made no bones about the fact they’re all advancing in years and they have lots of other projects to pursue’.
The source told the publication that the broadcasters ‘felt like the time was right and wanted to go out on a high when the show remained popular’.
Jeremy, Richard and James shot to superstardom after taking over BBC’s Top Gear, turning it from a niche car programme into one of the corporation’s hottest properties and selling spin-offs around the world.
Their time on the show wasn’t without controversy.
But now the trio’s 20-year-long partnership will draw to a close after Jeremy revealed there was nothing else for them to do
Saying: ‘I’ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else. We’ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air’
He also branded himself ‘unfit, fat and old’ as another reason that it was time for the ‘immensely physical’ show to end, following the hosts camping on beaches and racing speed boats in pervious series
Richard was nearly killed when he was involved in a 320mph crash while filming a stunt for the show, with the impact leaving him in a coma for two weeks and ‘Hamster’ himself admitting he fears getting early onset dementia as a result.
The trio also became the focus of a number of racism rows, with the ambassador for Mexico complaining when his people were branded ‘lazy’, ‘feckless’ and ‘flatulent’ on the show, sparking an apology from the BBC.
They were also hounded out of Argentina by an angry mob after a row over a number plate used while filming the series.
Officials claimed that H982 FKL on a Porche – which was registered in May 1991 – was a reference to the 1982 Falklands War.
That same year, Ofcom ruled that there had been a breach of the broadcasting code by including an offensive racial term during the programme’s Burma Special.
They dramatically left the programme in 2015 after Clarkson was sacked by the channel following a bust-up with producers, before returning on The Grand Tour in 2016.
Jeremy, Richard and James shot to superstardom after taking over BBC’s Top Gear , turning it from a niche car programme into one of the corporation’s hottest properties and selling spin-offs around the world (pictured)
Since then they have hosted 44 episodes of the series, which has taken them around the world on specials to Cambodia and Vietnam, Reunion and Madagascar, Scandinavia, and eastern Europe.
Late last year their former bosses at the BBC announced Top Gear, which turned the trio into superstars, was being axed in the aftermath of a horrific crash involving presenter Andrew Flintoff.
The show’s production has been halted since host Flintoff, 46, was taken to hospital in December 2022 after being badly hurt in an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Following the crash, the BBC announced that it would pause production on the show, co-presented by Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness and automotive journalist Chris Harris, as it was felt it would be ‘inappropriate’, adding there would be a health and safety review.
Jeremy was dropped from Top Gear in 2015 over what the BBC called an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’ on producer Oisin Tymon (who he is pictured with)
Paddy later thanked fans ‘for the love’ in a ‘goodbye’ message.
And after the BBC’s announcement to ‘rest’ the show for the foreseeable future, Paddy posted a gallery of images on Instagram starting with a picture of the trio in white Top Gear outfits.
He wrote the caption: ‘We were always going to be b*****s but we were your b******s.
‘Thanks for all the love over the years folks, it was very much appreciated.’
Late last year their former bosses at the BBC announced Top Gear, which turned the trio into superstars, was being axed in the aftermath of a horrific crash involving presenter Andrew Flintoff (R) pictured with co-hosts Paddy McGuinness (centre) and Chris Harris (L)
