Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at Chris Packham after the naturalist criticised Clarkson's Farm on Celebrity Gogglebox, branding his comments 'b******s' and revealing that Packham had previously visited Diddly Squat Farm without complaint.
Packham's Gogglebox Tirade
Chris Packham, known for presenting Springwatch, appeared on Friday night's episode of Celebrity Gogglebox alongside his stepdaughter Megan McCubbin. During the show, he erupted into a rant while watching the opening credits of Clarkson's Farm on Amazon Prime Video. He fumed: 'Already, right, that's not what a farm looks like. Most farms are horrible monocultures, which have been sprayed with deadly chemicals time and time again. The ground is pumped full of fertiliser, and loads of the animals are indoors in crates, being crushed and kept in the dark.'
Packham continued: 'That's an idealistic view of a farm, and it puts the wrong idea in people's minds. And that's only the titles!' He then turned to Megan and asked: 'What's my blood pressure?'
Clarkson's Response
Jeremy Clarkson has now responded in his column for The Sun, revealing that Packham actually visited Diddly Squat Farm in 2012. Clarkson wrote: 'The endlessly angry Chris Packham went on Gogglebox this week and erupted in blind fury about the Winnie the Pooh-ish opening credits to my farming programme. "That's not what a farm looks like," he fumed. No, Chris. It's a drawing. But he wasn't finished. "Most farms are horrible monocultures which have been sprayed with deadly chemicals ... the ground has been pumped full of fertiliser and most of the animals are indoors, in crates, being crushed and kept in the dark."'
Clarkson furiously continued: 'It's b******s. And Chris knows it's b******s because, back in 2012, he came to Diddly Squat and spent the day in our woods, foraging and bird watching. If there had been some animals in a crate, being crushed, I'm sure he would have noticed and said something.'
Support from Co-Star
Fellow Clarkson's Farm star Harriet Cowan also weighed in on the controversy. She shared a clip of Packham's complaints on TikTok with the caption: 'The BBC's impartial presenter...' She then fumed: 'Chris Packham. Maybe before throwing shade at all farmers, research your facts. What world are you living in?'
Cowan went on to share footage from her own farm in Derbyshire, showing a variety of animals on the scenic land, and captioned the video: 'Can we all show our horrible monoculture farm please???'
