James May didn’t hold back as he took a brutal swipe at Jeremy Clarkson live on Lorraine, revealing why he’ll never visit Clarkson’s Burford, Oxfordshire pub, The Farmer’s Dog.
The 62-year-old former Top Gear host appeared on Friday’s episode of the ITV talk show to chat with stand-in presenter Christine Lampard about his upcoming tour, which begins in Woking, Surrey, at the end of the month. Right at the end of the interview, Lampard asked whether May had been banned from the publisher’s pub, a line of questioning that prompted May to lean into the moment.
Apparently there’s a running barroom joke about who is allowed through the doors of The Farmer’s Dog. May quipped that there are reports he and Labour leader Keir Starmer aren’t welcome, before turning the moment into a jab at Clarkson’s expense. “Apparently … but I have said before that’s a bit like being banned from the golf club because I wasn’t going to go anyway,” May said. He went on to add, “I’ve got my own pub, which is just around the corner. I’m not going to go 75 miles to his. Especially because mine is better.”
Lampard struggled to suppress laughter as she wrapped the segment, closing with a light note about May’s tour plans. The ban remark sits in the longer arc of a public friendship that has long connected May, Clarkson and Richard Hammond, who rose to fame together on Top Gear from 2002 to 2022 and then continued on The Grand Tour, which premiered on Amazon Prime in 2016 and has produced six series over 46 episodes.
The Farmer’s Dog opened last year in Burford and has since drawn crowds eager to sample Clarkson’s latest business venture. Clarkson has already weathered his share of controversy in recent months, including comments about the crowd he attracts and some of the challenges of running a high-profile hospitality venue. The ban chatter around May adds another layer to the ongoing dynamic among the trio and their broader public-facing ventures.
Clarkson’s public remarks about his pub have also touched on broader issues that have punctuated his The Times column and media appearances. In a recent Times essay, he described what he calls a growing problem with food intolerance claims from some patrons, an issue he says has become an increasingly common headache for pub and restaurant owners. He recounted an incident in which a customer claimed to have been poisoned after receiving beer instead of cider and suggested that such claims sometimes lead to reimbursed costs, aided by CCTV evidence showing the patron was not drinking beer. The piece touched on a wider concern that some guests use dietary restrictions as leverage, and Clarkson argued that, in some cases, a ban might be warranted to protect staff and other customers.
Clarkson wrote that the situation amounts to a “fraud epidemic” in his view, and he indicated he was contemplating stepping back from accommodating all food intolerance requests. He described the idea of banning people with certain conditions as potentially “commercial suicide,” acknowledging the risk to his business but insisting some customers can make unreasonable demands. While Clarkson’s op-ed focused on hospitality challenges more broadly, it underscored the volatile environment that can surround popular pubs tied to well-known television figures.
Despite the tensions expressed by its owners and stars, The Farmer’s Dog reportedly remains a magnet for fans, helped in part by the enduring popularity of Clarkson, May and Hammond. The trio’s collaborations—first on Top Gear and later on The Grand Tour—have left a lasting imprint on British car culture and entertainment, with a fan base that still tunes in for new material and nostalgia alike. In that context, May’s Lorraine remarks reflect not only a casual feud, but also the peculiar blend of reality and show business that continues to define their careers.
As the public continues to watch for any new twists in the Clarkson–May–Hammond circle, the Lorraine moment stands as a reminder of how celebrity hospitality ventures and long-running media relationships intersect in the modern entertainment landscape. May’s tour kick-off in Woking will proceed as planned, a separate public-facing showcase that keeps him in a different part of the spotlight while his quip about The Farmer’s Dog remains a talking point among fans and media observers alike.