Jeremy Clarkson gives his verdict on new The Grand Tour hosts in candid video – and can’t resist taking two brutal swipes

Jeremy Clarkson has dished out his verdict on the new hosts of Prime Video’s The Grand Tour – after a trio of social media stars were confirmed to be taking over. 

The motoring series, which airs on Amazon’s Prime Video, has seen a shake-up of presenters after its original stars departed from the show as Jeremy, 65, admitted they were running low on ideas and becoming ‘unfit, fat and old’.

Now, the popular series will be hosted by new faces, YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelsman, and TikTok sensation Francis Bourgeois.

It was teased last year that the trio, who all found fame on social media, would be taking over from Jeremy, Richard, 56, and James, 63.

A first look image confirmed the news on Thursday, seeing Thomas, James and Francis leaning against a colourful painted car. 

It didn’t take long for former show host and Top Gear star Jeremy to weigh in with his thoughts on the new line-up – taking two brutal swipes, but not at the current stars.

Jeremy Clarkson dished out his verdict on the new hosts of Prime Video’s The Grand Tour – after a trio of social media stars were confirmed to be taking over

The popular series will be hosted by new faces, YouTubers James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, and TikTok sensation Francis Bourgeois

The official Grand Tour social media pages posted a video of Jeremy pretending to look through the CVs of prospective presenters looking to take over from him. 

‘These are the CVs from all the people who want to be a presenter on the show,’ he tells the camera in the clip, which was captioned: ‘Jeremy has a message…’

Jeremy continues, as he rifles through the papers, issued a take-down of his former co-star James: ‘Hello, my name is James May… God, he sounds dull!’

Looking at motoring influencer Thomas’s CV, Jeremy reads from the paper: ‘Once held a 1300 metre drift. Zero evidence has been uncovered.

‘Frequently presents an opinion as if it is fact and then if challenged will change the subject. Yes, funny man.’

Clocking the CV of train enthusiast and TikTok sensation Francis’ CV, Jeremy praises: ‘I know this one, he’s the train man from the internet!’  

Poking fun at the social media star, he adds: ‘He’s got a cycling proficiency test, 2020 vision, but claims he can see behind him. Yes…’

Moving on, he soon sifts out Richard Hammond’s CV, before issuing his brutal verdict against the former Top Gear star: ‘Blah. I’m 5ft4,’ before throwing the paper away. 

Jeremy, Richard and James bowed out of The Grand Tour in September last year [pictured on the show in 2022]

Petrolheads Thomas (pictured) and James host their own YouTube show Throttle House, in which they test and review cars, which impressively boasts over 3.2 million subscribers

The final candidate is YouTube star James’ CV, from which Jeremy reads: ‘Once reviewed an entire car using only sarcasm. Height depends on what dating app you find him on. That’s funny.’

Taking a stack of papers, he concluded: ‘You lot, I’m afraid, were unlucky,’ before pointing at James, Thomas and Francis to say: ‘Let’s get them in, they look good, get them in.’

New hosts Thomas, James and Francis will front the six-part series, which will see them drive across some of the world’s most challenging terrains in a variety of vehicles.

Petrol heads Thomas and James host their own YouTube show Throttle House, in which they and test and review cars, which impressively boasts over 3.2 million subscribers.

While Francis, real name Luke Magnus Nicolson, is best known for his love of trainspotting – with over 6 million followers between his social media accounts. 

He counts the Prince and Princess of Wales and Stormzy as fans. 

Canadian biology graduate Thomas initially launched his YouTube channel in 2015 ‘out of boredom’ – and was joined three years later by fan James. 

Meanwhile, since his first TikTok clip, back in February 2021, Francis has risen to social media superstardom.

James (pictured) joined Thomas’s YouTube channel after reaching out as a fan 

Francis commands a following of millions, with his TikTok account boasting more than 3.3 million fans, while his Instagram has 2.4 million (pictured: Francis at the BRITs in 2023) 

After soaring to fame thanks to his eccentric and loveable trainspotting videos, Francis has gone on to interview stars including Louis Theroux, Craig David, Sheridan Smith and Tom Daley.

Previously speaking about his hobby during an interview with This Morning, he said: ‘I was just fixated by these big machines. Ever since, I’ve had a passion for trains, cars, planes.’

In 2023 Francis was joined by his most royal fans, the Prince and Princess of Wales as they brushed shoulders with the internet royalty during a hilarious video. 

Jeremy, Richard and James bowed out of The Grand Tour in September 2024. 

The original series followed the trio on a worldwide mission to meet different car manufacturers and had been on air since 2016, following their departure from Top Gear two years earlier.

Their exit marked an emotional end of an era for the trio, who first started working together on Top Gear more than two decades ago.

Since then, the trio have featured in Amazon Prime Video’s The Not Very Grand Tour which aired its first episode on April 18 earlier this year.

While Jeremy returned to the world of motoring TV after filming an episode of Car SOS.

Jeremy’s appearance on the motoring show came just months after the final episode of The Grand Tour aired in September.

Meanwhile, Richard and James reminisced on their time on Top Gear as they took a ‘traumatising’ visit to their old studio – ten years on from their final show.

In a video released on James May’s YouTube series, Planet Gin, the duo decided to revisit the office for ‘reasons unknown’.

James began: ‘That is the old Top Gear studio, and that is the old Top Gear green room.’

Walking around the complex they pushed open the door to one of the abandoned trailers and reminisced on their days on set.

Richard said: ‘It smells the same, terrible. It’s weird it seems like only yesterday but also 100 years ago.

‘This is where we assembled, worked on scripts, had arguments. I feel funny. I feel funny as well. I felt really odd being here. Every week we would come here for years and years and years.’

James: ‘The smell of it is almost traumatising… do you think if I opened this door we’d slip through a portal and be back in 2000 and whatever it was?

The Grand Tour will return to Prime Video later this year.