Jeremy Clarkson has revealed a fresh health issue hot on the heels of his emergency heart scare. The Clarkson’s Farm star, 64, underwent heart surgery last year, where he had two stents fitted. The star experienced immense stress during filming of season four of Clarkson’s Farm, where he tackled various challenges of opening The Farmer’s Dog pub, navigating constant hurdles and red tape.
However his issues came to a head during a holiday in 2024. The dad-of-three did an awkward bellyflop when diving into the Indian Ocean, which led to a series of health problems upon his return to the UK, including clamminess, pins and needles in his left arm, and chest tightness.
He later underwent an angioplasty operation while awake, and Jeremy now has to commit to extensive annual health checks that take up to eight hours and include prostate examinations. Now, he’s opened up about the toll his body is still taking and it’s not just his heart he’s worried about.
“I have a trapped nerve in my back at the moment,” he revealed in his Sunday Times column. Describing his ordeal while reviewing the Mercedes G 580 electric SUV, Jezza joked that sitting still in the 4×4 was near impossible: “It’s fine but I’m doing anything, but in the G 580, not doing anything is impossible because it pitches and rolls all the time, and you never have any idea what it’s going to do next.”
He went on: “So you can’t ever brace yourself. Getting out of this and back into Lisa’s Range Rover was like getting out of an economy seat on a new airline called Air Turbulent and into a bed at the world’s most peaceful hotel.”
The former Top Gear presenter, who has spent the last few years juggling tractors, pub launches and collapsing arteries says it’s clear everything has taken a visible toll.
“You can see me becoming more and more ill as the days go on, because I just lose my sense of humour, lose my ability to stay calm. I get in a proper old panic,” he told The Sun last month while promoting the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm.
“I didn’t know at the time. I knew I wasn’t being me. Because if you don’t sleep, it very quickly has an effect.”
Clarkson was eventually rushed to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital where initial tests ruled out a heart attack but the reality was still serious. Scans revealed one artery was completely blocked and another was nearly sealed off.
A stent was quickly inserted to restore blood flow, and Clarkson later admitted in his column: “It wasn’t especially painful. Just odd,” adding: “Crikey, that was close.”
Speaking about the toll his schedule took on him, he told Gloucestershire Live: “I like hard work. If I don’t do something constructive in a day, I struggle to fall asleep that night. But that was silly, and it did mess my heart up. It’s very stressful running a pub. It’s more stressful than running a farm.”