Jeremy Clarkson makes sad admission about cancer impacting his farming
Jeremy Clarkson admitted that his cancer diagnosis has forced him to step back temprarily from experiencing milestone moments on the Diddly Squat farm.
In the Clarkson’s Farm season five finale, the ex-Top Gear favourite confirmed he was grappling with an ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer.
Admitting that doctors caught the disease ‘really early’, the 66-year-old added: “So we started the year and I had coronary heart disease and ended it with cancer.
“We can dwell as much as we like on all the bad things that have happened on the farm but I think it is better now at the end of the year to focus on things that have happened that are good.”
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On Tuesday (8 September), the father of three used his appearance at the National Television Awards to briefly touch on the state of his health.
The confession was made as Clarkson picked up the inaugural Reality Docuseries prize, beating out category opponents such as the Fury family, Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash, and Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse.
While collecting the gong, the former Grand Tour icon said: “I had a heart thing and a bit of cancer, but we live in a time when doctors can fix things very easily," as reported by The Express.
"It was annoying rather than emotional - I missed a lot of the harvest, which I love.”
He then paid tribute to his categroy mates, claiming: “Crikey. Some lovely programmes in that category.
"I’ve just discovered Paris Fury is from Doncaster like I am. I don’t want to drone on forever, on behalf of everyone who makes this amazing show, thank you."
The publication reported that he told the press that people who voted for Clarkson’s Farm ‘kind of voted for farmers’.
"I think they are going 'oh, that is a difficult job'," he added.
The publication reported that Clarkson also had something to say about the 11 sheep he had stolen from his Diddly Squat farm last week.
He said: "I think it’s a foregone conclusion that you probably ate one of them last night. There’s none on the farm and there’s no blood and guts, so somebody has stolen them and butchered them.
"They were the breeding ewes, which is genuinely annoying. They are £205 each, so over £2,000 worth of sheep were stolen. It’s annoying and it’s happening a lot.
"Farmers are armed…I don’t know why people don’t realise that."
Thames Valley Police initially received a report that the animals had been taken on 2 September.
According to Clarkson, he only realised they had gone walkabout when he and Kaleb Cooper went to count the flock.
He added that he was worried some in other fields of his farm may have also been stolen.
Asked whether he believed the show had made his farm a target, Clarkson said: "It's more likely to make you a target than less, but I still don't think they've been stolen because they're on Diddly Squat.
"How can you (stop it) if someone's determined to steal your livestock?
"This is 1,000 acres, it's a big farm. Anyone could be anywhere and you wouldn't know."
Topics: Celebrity, Health, TV and Film
Ella Scott