--- title: James May: Top Gear Without Jeremy Clarkson Would Be "Lame" description: James May has ruled out returning to BBC's Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson on board. canonical: https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-23T15:45:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:37:08.890Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: James May Rules Out 'Top Gear' Return Without Jeremy Clarkson og:description: James May has ruled out returning to BBC's Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson on board. og:url: https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64b8cc74dc1ce596/6987ec850b72e33e756e1abc/james-may.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: James May interview og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James May Rules Out 'Top Gear' Return Without Jeremy Clarkson twitter:description: James May has ruled out returning to BBC's Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson on board. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64b8cc74dc1ce596/6987ec850b72e33e756e1abc/james-may.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James May Says He Won't Return to _Top Gear_ Without Jeremy Clarkson by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 23, 2015 3:45 PM UTC  File photo dated 10/12/12 of James May, who has ruled out returning to Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson. File photo dated 10/12/12 of James May, who has ruled out returning to Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson.Ian West—PA Wire by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 23, 2015 3:45 PM UTC _Top Gear_ presenter James May has [ruled out a return to the BBC show](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/23/james-may-top-gear-jeremy-clarkson-bbc-richard-hammond) without Jeremy Clarkson on board, saying a show without the original presenter would be “lame.” May called a return alongside fellow co-host Richard Hammond with a new presenter in place of Clarkson a “non-starter,” the _Guardian_ reports. Clarkson’s [attack in March](http://time.com/3757668/jeremy-clarkson-fired-top-gear/) on a producer got him axed from the show. “Me and Hammond with a surrogate Jeremy is a non-starter, it just wouldn’t work. That would be lame, or ‘awks’ as young people say,” May said. “It has to be the three of us. You can’t just put a surrogate Jeremy in and expect it to carry on. It would be forced. I don’t believe they would be stupid enough to try that.” Clarkson was fired from _Top Gear_, which the trio has hosted for 12 years, after a ‘fracas’ in which he physically and verbally attacked producer Oisin Tymon, leaving Tymon to seek hospital treatment. _\[_[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/23/james-may-top-gear-jeremy-clarkson-bbc-richard-hammond)_\]_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/"},"headline":"James May Says He Won't Return to Top Gear Without Jeremy Clarkson","datePublished":"2015-04-23T15:45:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:37:08.890Z","description":"Without Clarkson, Top Gear would be \"awks\"","url":"https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64b8cc74dc1ce596/6987ec850b72e33e756e1abc/james-may.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64b8cc74dc1ce596/6987ec850b72e33e756e1abc/james-may.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"James May interview","caption":"James May interview","creditText":"Ian West—PA Wire","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3832996/james-may-top-gear-clarkson-return/","name":"James May Says He Won't Return to Top Gear Without Jeremy Clarkson"}}]}] ```