James May opens up on ‘tricky’ demand he made to Grand Tour bosses over finale: ‘In our nature to be horrible’
The Grand Tour viewers bid farewell to Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond on the Grand Tour later this week – Friday, September 13.
Amazon Prime’s biggest motoring series will celebrate the end of May, Hammond and Clarkson’s 22-year working relationship, with it being reported earlier this year that they had officially dissolved their production company W. Chump and Sons.
Fans have been eager to watch the final episode – titled One for the Road – since Sand Job was released back in February 2024 and once again saw the hilarious bond the three car enthusiasts share.
The official episode synopsis reads: “In their last ever Grand Tour adventure, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May ignore the instructions of Mr. Wilman and head to Zimbabwe in three cars they’ve always wanted to own.
“A Lancia Montecarlo, a Ford Capri 3-litre, and a Triumph Stag, for a stunning road trip through beautiful and sometimes challenging landscapes leading to an emotional ending on a strangely familiar island.”
The trio wanted to go out with a bang for their final episode but realised that it was going to be hard after managing to do pretty much everything they could with a car.
Discussing what he wanted out of the episode, May outlined his demands for the finale – and how “tricky” it could prove to be
“I remember saying in an early meeting that it was important that we actually genuinely enjoyed our cars and didn’t allow it to descend into too much bickering or aggressive pranking of each other,” he explained.
“I also didn’t want to be too introverted, emotional or navel-gazing; it had to be joyous. We had to come together and acknowledge our shared enthusiasm.”
Acknowledging the difficulty in doing so, he continued: “It’s quite a tricky balance to strike, I think because it’s in our nature to be horrible about each other.
“And there are a few moments like that, like when I say, ‘I’m deleting their numbers from my phone’ as soon as it’s over. That’s us being quite British and undermining our own feelings, which I think is the right thing to do because that’s genuinely us.
“I’d have hated it if it had been, ‘Oh no, it’s the end’, because ultimately, if we were that upset about it, we’d keep going. But we can’t keep going because we’re too old and we’ve exhausted our take on the subject.”
May, 61, also admitted that he felt he was now “too frail” to continue doing the types of challenges and dangerous situations they have put themselves in, in the past.
Touching on the decision to bring the series to an end and whether or not he would miss it, May added: “I’ve always said if it ends tomorrow, which it nearly did at one point, that I should just be grateful that I had the opportunity.
“I could always have gone back to some sort of proper life and done something responsible and sensible. I won’t really miss the stress of it because I’m old now and a bit frail compared with back then.
“I don’t know what to do next, but it’s a nice thing to look back on and think, ‘We did that’.”
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Executive producer Andy Wilman revealed that whilst big and theatrical explosions have been a key factor of the show in the past, fans should expect a more “gentle film” to round off their years of hard work.
He said: “The final thing that we all agreed on was that it should be a gentle film. Some newer or younger fans may be like, ‘Hang on, nothing’s exploded.’
“We thought of things to do and then threw them away: like, no, it’s going to be a gentle film.”
All three men had rather mixed reactions to calling “cut” on their last-ever film, with Hammond left “in tears”, Clarkson the “saddest” he’s ever been, and May typically void of emotion, according to Clarkson.
