James May says he cannot see himself reuniting with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond on TV ever again.
The trio fronted Top Gear from 2003 and worked together for more than two decades in total.
After Clarkson was fired from the series for punching a producer in 2015, May and Hammond also left and the trio were immediately hired for a new motoring series, The Grand Tour, on Amazon Prime Video which ran for . But May has now put the brakes on any further work together.
On them reuniting, 62-year-old May said: “Well, there’s nothing wrong with the comeback, but there comes a point where you have to draw a line under it.
“And as we used to say, land it safely rather than crash it. We’ve exhausted our take on the subject. It’s probably time for a more modern one and we’re already pretty old.
“So if we did a comeback in 20 years time, it would be in bath chairs, and I think it would be rather unseemly. I really don’t see it happening.”
Despite May’s comments there are new episodes of The Grand Tour coming, in the form of re-cap shows which will look back and previous series. The special episodes start with The Not Very Grand Tour : The Power and the Glory on April 18.
The retrospective episodes will also include three specials titled The Grand-Ish Tour in 2025 and 2026 – but are not new adventures. They are essentially a ‘best of’ compilation.
Speaking on Al Arabiya News, May also says things have moved on from their hugely successful times on Top Gear and the next generation will be interested in cars but perhaps in a different way. This will need to be reflected in future car shows.
May added: “I mean, I try, I’ve written a few things about the future of cars and electric cars and so on, but it really takes, I think it will take some people in their 20s or early 30s with a very modern mindset and you can address sort of what you’re alluding to, what the interest of today’s young is in cars.
“It’s going to be a different angle from the one we had, but I am sure it must be there somewhere. I can’t believe that car TV has come to an end.”
The Grand Tour came to an end last year Clarkson, May and Hammond having an emotional return to where they started on Top Gear.
They planned to end the Prime Video series after an adventure in Zimbabwe.
But in the end they put their foot down and drove across to Kubu Island in Botswana where they began their first Top Gear special back in 2007.
“There it is, Kubu Island,” Clarkson says, wiping his face.
“It just remains for me to say thank you very much for watching. It means a lot.”
Looking out towards the destination May adds: “There’s our tree.”
The poignant ending then sees the close friends recreate the same scenes 17 years on, with Hammond touching the tree and looking up to the sky after they have scaled some rocks together to get there.
At the time May said: “22 years, almost a third of my life. This is going to hit me in quite small ways. Anyway, I hope it brought you a little bit of happiness.”
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