Jeremy Clarkson snubbed a high-five from Kaleb Cooper as their show Clarkson’s Farm took home a reality docuseries prize at the National Television Awards.
The win came Tuesday night at the annual ceremony, where the Amazon series beat out At Home With The Furys, Fletchers’ Family Farm, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, and Stacey & Joe. Clarkson, 66, was seated beside longtime girlfriend Lisa Hogan and several co-stars including Cooper, 26, when the result was announced.
An elated Clarkson sprang from his seat and made straight for the stage, leaving Cooper’s raised hand dangling in mid-air. The younger farmer’s attempt at celebrating the moment went completely ignored by the show’s lead star, who walked off wearing a broad smile.
The exchange was clipped and circulated rapidly on X, where viewers pounced on the awkwardness. One user wrote: “Jeremy Clarkson you left Kaleb hanging there, mate.” Another commented: “Left Kaleb hanging there Jeremy Clarkson. Poor sod.”
Onstage, Clarkson received the trophy from Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman, and Thomas Holland—the new hosts of his former series The Grand Tour. He kept his acceptance remarks brief.
“Crikey. Some lovely programmes in that category,” Clarkson said. “I’ve just discovered Paris Fury is from Doncaster like I am. I don’t want to drone on forever, on behalf of everyone who makes this amazing show, thank you.”
The recognition arrives during a difficult stretch for Clarkson’s agricultural operation. Last week, he disclosed that 11 of his Easycare sheep had been stolen from Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire, with the missing livestock valued at more than £2,000. Police have opened an investigation.
“The police have been very good, actually,” Clarkson told the newspaper. “Once you go through 700 hours of recorded messages, I got through to a girl. I said, ‘I know it’s going to sound like I’m from 1856, but I’ve had some sheep stolen’. She went through the name and address and then she said, ‘oh, not your Easycares’. She’s obviously been watching the show, but it is the Easycares.”
He discovered the theft during a routine flock count with Cooper. Clarkson suspects the thieves struck either overnight or on a non-filming day, and he has not ruled out the possibility that the show’s visibility has made his property a mark.
“It’s more likely to make you a target than less, but I still don’t think they’ve been stolen because they’re on Diddly Squat,” Clarkson said. “How can you (stop it) if someone’s determined to steal your livestock? This is 1,000 acres, it’s a big farm. Anyone could be anywhere and you wouldn’t know.”
He issued a pointed warning to the perpetrators. “It’s a farm. We’re armed. Just so they know,” Clarkson said. “It p****s me off. Honestly, it just p****s me off.”
The sheep theft is only the latest headache for the former Top Gear presenter turned amateur farmer. Clarkson’s Farm documents his often fumbling attempts to run the 1,000-acre Oxfordshire property he purchased in 2008, with Cooper—a local farm worker who had never previously left his home county before joining the series—serving as his perpetually exasperated right-hand man. Their combative but affectionate dynamic has become the show’s signature, though Tuesday’s stage snub suggests Cooper still cannot quite command his boss’s full attention.
The National Television Awards victory marks back-to-back recognition for the series, which has become one of Amazon’s most-watched original productions in Britain and has drawn significant tourism to the Cotswolds region.
Clarkson’s Farm season four is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime Video later this year.