Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Jeremy Clarkson shocked by guess
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The 61-year-old presenter was dropped by the BBC six years ago and left ‘Top Gear’ after he assaulted the programme’s producer Oisin Tymon. A year after exiting the broadcaster, Jeremy continued to pursue his passion of motoring by starring in the Amazon Prime Video series, ‘The Grand Tour’. The star was reunited with his long-time former ‘Top Gear’ colleagues Richard Hammond and James May for the programme.
Jeremy also has his own Amazon series, ‘Clarkson’s Farm’, which follows his attempts to farm the 1,000 acres of land he owns in the Cotswolds.
He is also the host of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’, which returns to ITV for a celebrity special tonight.
The presenter puts famous faces through their paces on the quiz show as they bid to walk away with £1million for their chosen charity.
Jimmy Carr, Christine Ohuruogu and Alex Beresford are all taking part tonight, and will have access to the usual lifelines, including ‘ask the host’, ‘phone a friend’ and ‘50-50’.
After leaving the BBC, Jeremy took aim at the publicly-funded corporation’s decision to reveal the salaries of its biggest on-screen names.
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In 2016, the Government confirmed that BBC stars on salaries of £150,000 or more would have their earnings made public as part of a transparency drive.
In a throwback interview with Newsweek magazine the same year, Jeremy branded the plans “disgusting” and “just not British”.
He told the US-based publication: “You just do not do it. Nobody talks about their earnings.”
Jeremy said it would be expected that people would have faith in the BBC’s then-director-general, Tony Hall, to make the right decisions.
He said: “I don’t know why it’s so interesting what somebody earns.
“If you’re going to put someone in a management position running the BBC, Tony Hall, you would assume and hope he is capable of deciding who gets paid what and he doesn’t have to explain it to every Tom, Dick and Harry. Why do we need to know?”
Jeremy’s ‘Grand Tour’ co-presenter James May also criticised the BBC as he was interviewed by Newsweek.
James told the magazine that there are “undoubted issues with the BBC’s remit and the way they are obliged to run themselves, and the way they choose to run themselves”.
However, he also said that “as an institution” he is still “immensely fond” of the corporation.
He added: “When I was growing up the BBC was my third parent, so it’s very important to the way I turned out.
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“I’ve still done a few small things for them, there’s no animosity there.
“As a principle, I think the BBC is an excellent brand and people shouldn’t interfere with it.”
The UK’s former culture secretary John Whittingdale had previously set the threshold for unveiling the top BBC salaries at £450,000 in an agreement with the broadcaster in 2016.
His successor Karen Bradley chose the lower figure of £150,000 after she was appointed by then-Prime Minister Theresa May.
Explaining the move, she had said: “License fee payers have a right to know where their money goes.
“By making the BBC more transparent it will help deliver savings that can then be invested in even more great programs.”
‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ airs on ITV from 9pm-10pm.
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