During an interview with Yahoo News UK , May said they had “exhausted the idea thoroughly” and that they wanted to stop making the show before it was ruined. I suppose that makes sense, the three of them were starting to get up there in age, and a lot of the ideas the show was using were sort of rehashes of things they’d already done. Still, we’ve reported that Amazon would like to bring the show back with three new hosts (Jeff Bezos, please call me.) May said he’s happy it ended when it did – after 46 “Grand Tour” and over 170 “Top Gear” episodes.
Here’s what else May told Yahoo, and what life after “TGT” will be like for him:
“It’s sort of sad, and I know people are sad that it’s over, but it couldn’t go on forever and we’re all getting on a bit,” May reflects. “And we exhausted the idea fairly thoroughly, I think, so it’s like we quietly put it to one side rather than destroy it.”
When asked if it had hit him yet that that part of his life was over, May says: “Yes, it keeps coming back to me in quite small ways. I think in [The Grand Tour finale] I was talking about things like my green bag, which I only used for trips with the other two.
“And we’ve been quite spoiled in some ways, other people effectively organised your holidays, we just have to turn up and do the presenting and adventure bit. So now I’m going to have to organise my own holidays and probably only go on two a year, but I did it for a long time, I’m very grateful for it.”
May is now working on Quest series James May and the Dull Men, which he feels is the kind of project he’s most excited about doing at this point in his career: “Now I can relax and enjoy the privilege of making things like this series, which are quite modest but quite intimate, and they involve doing things I’m doing anyway at home.”
Just remember, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. It’s better to remember how great the three of them were together than to watch a handful of old men falling down over and over.
Oh, and again, Amazon, please call me. I will do whatever you want.
