The Grand Tour: James May on why the ex-Top Gear trio work so well together

'We work because we hate each other. That’s the magic formula'

Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May in the final Top Gear with its former line-up (BBC)

Following his dismissal from Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson’s fans immediately began questioning whether James May and Richard Hammond would follow suit and leave the BBC show.

As predicted, they did, and - following a bidding war - Amazon managed to purchase the trio’s new motoring show, soon after titled The Grand Tour.

With a rumoured budget of £4 million per episode, there’s a lot riding on the new programme, which will only be available through Amazon’s Prime streaming service.

Luckily, from the clips already released, the trio seems to have retained that same sense of humour that made them a formidable presenting team. Speaking to The Guardian, May revealed their secret.

“We work because we hate each other,” he told the publication. “That’s the magic formula. It doesn’t work for bands. I think it works for groups of TV presenters. We get on each other’s tits massively.

“It’s camped-up pantomime, but the differences are real. I don’t know if we’d connect if we hadn’t been thrown together. We’re not really meant to be together. But that’s why it works.”

He went on to add how they almost never socialise together outside of filming. Speaking about the differences between Top Gear and The Grand Tour, May said: “”The format is slightly different. The tone of it is very slightly different because the tent moves around the world so that, rather than people coming to it, we go to them. It has a local feel. But if you do watch, you’re not going to be in any way baffled by how much it’s changed. It will seem very comfortable.”

Wondering what The Grand Tour will be like? Check out our “everything we know” piece here. The Grand Tour debuts on Amazon Prime 18 November.