The disastrous opening of Jeremy Clarkson‘s Cotswolds pub is the climax of season four of the global hit series Clarkson’s Farm.
And now locals are claiming that one of the reasons why it was such a nightmare is down to his new neighbour, US TV star Ellen DeGeneres, filling the swimming pool at her new house.
As viewers of the show may recall, mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmer’s Dog in August 2024.
Both the pub toilets and kitchen had to close, and customers were turned away in their droves.
In an exchange seen on-screen Clarkson’s plumber claimed the problem was due to villagers in the nearby hamlet of Asthall using up all the water in the mains system – not leaving any for the pub, a mile away and also up a hill.
Clarkson said on episode eight of the show: ‘I was hoping the problem was something trivial, but the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill.’
Clarkson’s plumber then explained: ‘As far as I know, the water pipe comes all the way up the hill from Asthall village.
‘When everyone in the village is turning their water supply on, showers, filling up pots and pans and kettles, it doesn’t then have the oomph to push it up the hill [to the pub].’
The opening of Jeremy Clarkson’s (pictured) pub in the Cotswolds was hit by difficulties, as the new series of his Clarkson’s Farm programme shows
Former US TV host Ellen DeGeneres, pictured (left) with wife Portia De Rossi, with whom she moved to the Cotswolds with last year
Mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmer’s Dog last August
A local from Asthall, who did not wish to be named, reveals: ‘It was around the August Bank Holiday weekend [2024] that the swimming pool at the Ellen’s farmhouse was being refilled.
‘Pools of that size filled with normal mains water can take a week to nine days to fill – sometimes even longer depending on the local mains water pressure.
‘If you can imagine having all the taps on to fill the pool, that has to take a lot of water out of the system and Asthall really is just a very small hamlet with a handful of houses.
‘Then perhaps it is no surprise that Clarkson, with all the water a business like that uses, ran out of water.’
The local believes that Ellen’s 56ft-long pool was emptied, cleaned and refilled around August Bank Holiday last year for the former chat show host and her wife, actress Portia De Rossi.
Ellen bought a £15million farmhouse in Asthall, a hamlet with only a handful of other houses, in June of last year.
She had decided to quit her home in Montecito, California, in an apparent protest at US President Donald Trump’s second election win.
Ellen and Portia did not move in until last October, with various building works and landscaping being done in the period in between.
Clarkson says in the new Clarkson’s Farm series: ‘I was hoping the problem was something trivial but the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill’
Customers are seen queuing up outside The Farmer’s Dog pub as it opened last August
Ellen DeGeneres bought the £15million farmhouse she shares with her wife Portia De Rossi in Asthall, a hamlet with only a handful of other houses, in June of last year
The pool itself measures 56ft by 12ft, with an average depth of 6ft, which means it holds 112,896 litres of water.
Filling it with mains water will have taken anywhere between seven to nine days.
It is thought that the only other pool in the village is at Asthall Manor, which is owned by the aristocrat and local Green Party district councillor Rosie Pearson.
That has a natural swimming pond and a fish pond – however, it is not thought either were being refilled at that time.
Ellen and Portia’s move to the Cotswolds came to light after they were videoed attending a live music night at The Farmer’s Dog in December.
It subsequently emerged that Ellen and Portia had fallen in love with the only other pub in Asthall, The Three Horseshoes, just a short stroll from their house.
Sources said they loved the Three Horseshoes so much they had a version of the pub’s bar built at their own farmhouse later.
In November last year, the 43 acres of land surrounding Ellen’s farmhouse was badly flooded when a tributary of the Thames, which runs through the farm, broke its banks.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were filmed visiting The Farmer’s Dog last November
The Grand Tour host bought The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for about £1million and, after renovating it, he renamed the watering hole The Farmer’s Dog
They were teething problems on the pub’s second day after opening – with both the toilets and kitchen having to close and customers turned away in their droves
The pub’s launch features in the new, fourth series of Clarkson’s Farm – a hit on Amazon Prime
This spring, Ellen and Portia moved again – this time to a stunning £15million modern house in a hilltop location, near Chipping Norton.
Clarkson’s Farm, now in its fourth season, is a huge global hit.
But the star and his girlfriend Lisa Hogan say they cannot bear to watch the last two episodes because it brings back the stress and trauma of those pub-opening days so vividly.
The Grand Tour host Clarkson bought The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for about £1million and, after renovating it, he renamed the watering hole The Farmer’s Dog in recognition of his pets and his nearby farm, Diddly Squat.
