TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he made a "big and sudden decision" to quit TikTok, a platform he said had "become something of an addiction". The former Top Gear host, 66, said he has deleted the app "from his phone and from his life".
From Reagan Clips to a 'TikTok Voyeur'
The short-form video platform initially served up content he liked, including clips of speeches by the late former US President Ronald Reagan. The content then expanded to short clips of the character Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi, from political satire show The Thick of It.
Writing in his column in The Sun, Clarkson explained: "Soon, I was spending quite a lot of my time idly scrolling through videos because once every 20 minutes or so something funny or interesting would pop up. So then I'd scroll some more. But I never actually posted anything myself and never once liked anyone else's posts either."
Clarkson went on to call himself a "TikTok voyeur".
What He's Doing With His Time Now
The Clarkson's Farm presenter listed a range of things he has found time for now the site is not consuming his time. These include completing a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, going for walks in the woods with his dogs, meeting friends at the pub for a pint, and reading Winnie the Pooh stories to his grandchildren.
He reserved some disdain for the roughly two billion people who use the site every month. Clarkson said: "TikTok had become something of an addiction. I convinced myself that it provided a window on to the soul of the nation but it's no such thing. It's a portal into a world of idiots, show-offs and has-beens."
Hosepipe Ban Workaround at His Pub
The news comes after Clarkson explained how he kept his pub's garden green despite the hosepipe ban. His Cotswolds pub, The Farmer's Dog, has found itself subject to a hosepipe ban, like much of the rest of the UK. A string of heatwaves and minimal rainfall have caused water companies to implement hosepipe bans, though there are a number of lawful exemptions and exceptions that allow people to work around the rules.
Aerial photographs this week revealed large portions of the grass maintaining its lush green appearance while certain patches and the surrounding fields remained a scorched brown. Clarkson let slip the details while musing over how crooner Sir Rod Stewart has managed to keep the grass green at his Essex mansion, as he took a swipe at "the nation's bitter people".
Writing in his newspaper column, Clarkson said: "An aerial photograph of the lush green lawns outside Sir Rod Stewart's sprawling mansion in Essex prompted the nation's bitter people to ask: 'How did you manage that, mate, when there's a hosepipe ban in force?' Well, let's think. Could it be, perhaps, that Rod, here with wife Penny, probably has a borehole. It's not a difficult concept to get your head round."
