LONDON (AP) — British TV personality Jeremy Clarkson has opened up about a prostate cancer diagnosis, sharing the news with viewers through the closing episodes of his popular farming reality show.
The 66-year-old described the cancer as “aggressive,” but said doctors caught it at an early stage.
Before the episodes aired, Clarkson took to social media on Tuesday to prepare fans for difficult news tied to the fifth season finale of “Clarkson’s Farm,” a show that follows the trials of operating Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. The episodes became available to stream on Wednesday.
“Ordinarily we try to keep the show bucolic and charming, and cheerful, but two episodes which drop in the middle of the night tonight are, they’re none of those things,” he posted on Instagram. “They’re a difficult watch, they’re really, really difficult.”
Within one of the episodes, Clarkson broke the news to farm manager Kaleb Cooper and consultant Charlie Ireland while the group was in the middle of harvest planning discussions. “I’ve got cancer,” he told them plainly.
Clarkson built his fame as the outspoken host of the BBC automotive program “Top Gear.” He underwent a heart procedure two years ago, and at that time wrote in his column for The Sun tabloid that his doctor had advised him to swap work for golf.
In 2023, Clarkson faced backlash from media regulators after writing in his column about fantasizing that Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, be paraded naked through the streets and pelted with feces. He later apologized after a press watchdog ruled the piece was sexist.
Since entering the world of farming in 2019, Clarkson has become a vocal supporter of the agricultural community, publicly opposing the government’s move to impose an inheritance tax on farmland, a policy introduced in November 2024.
During the season five finale, Clarkson appeared speaking from a hospital bed, explaining that a surgeon had removed part of his prostate and that he expected to learn his prognosis in November.
“If this is all successful, I’ll see you for season six, and if it isn’t, I won’t,” he said. “Take care, everyone.”
