James May addresses Top Gear's ‘regrettable’ BBC exit after Jeremy Clarkson punch

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. May first started working with Clarkson and Richard Hammond on the BBC’s motoring show in 2002, and they moved over to Amazon for Prime Video series The Grand Tour after an on-set “fracas” in 2015, The altercation saw the presenter punch producer Oisin Tymon, which led to Clarkson’s tenure at the corporation coming to an end. May has now reflected on the turn of events, revealing that he didn’t think their time on Top Gear “had to end because of” the fight. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free open image in gallery Jeremy Clarkson was dropped by the BBC in 2015 “I mean, without being big-headed about it, we were Top Gear and we were one of the biggest TV shows in the world at the time,” May said. “It was quite an intense environment and it’s not entirely surprising that it occasionally went off the rails.” May recently explained why his TV partnership with Clarkson and Hammond came to an end with the Grand Tour finale.