Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond are set to make a surprise return to screens next month with cameo appearances in the rebooted The Grand Tour.
Original Trio to Pass the Baton
The trio, who first worked together on the BBC's Top Gear from 2002 to 2015 before moving to Prime Video for The Grand Tour in 2016, will appear in the new series. The Amazon Studios show, which aired full-length series and special episodes until 2024, is being rebooted with new presenters: YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelman, and TikTok train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois (real name Luke Magnus Nicolson).
Executive producer Andy Wilman revealed the cameos at the Buckingham Literary Festival, as reported by The Irish Sun. Wilman said: "We've got three guys coming soon with a new Grand Tour and we've got behind them. We're really supporting them." He added: "Our guys are in the shows doing cameos, so we're wishing them well because we do want to pass that baton on."
New Hosts Announced
In February, Amazon announced The Grand Tour would return with three younger hosts. Engleman and Holland are known for their YouTube channel Throttle House, which has over 3.4 million followers and features car reviews and track tests. Bourgeois has amassed more than 3.4 million followers on TikTok; he gained fame posting about trains but also trained as a mechanical engineer and worked at Rolls-Royce.
The show returns for a six-episode series in September. While Clarkson's opinion of the new cast is unknown, Bourgeois, Engleman, and Holland align with the advice Clarkson offered Amazon in 2024: "My advice to Amazon would be – and I've given this to them already – for heaven's sake, do not get well known people who 'like' cars… Because that's not enough. I would get three complete unknowns. Start small, like we did. They've got to be absolute petrolheads."
