Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have quit studio car shows.
The ‘Grand Tour’ co-hosts – who previously co-presented ‘Top Gear’ for 13 years – have called time on presenting via the traditional format of such programmes, announcing the news after they completed filming on the third series of the motoring show.
Jeremy told The Sun newspaper: "There are only so many times you can watch a BMW go round the track – what more can you say? It’s got four wheels and a seat.
"It’s the end of an era."
The 58-year-old TV presenter joked he is "too fat" to climb the show’s stage nowadays, but admitted he will "miss the banter" with the studio audience and his co-stars.
He added: "It’s a really sad day. I will miss the banter with each other and with the audience.
"But we’ve been doing that show for effectively 17 years – sitting around in studios, watching cars race around the track.
"We all agreed that we’ve been doing it a long time and everything eventually runs its course.
"Besides, I’m 58 and I’m too fat to be climbing on to the stage."
However, the trio still have a two-year deal in place with Amazon for at least four special shows a year, and they are said to have a sizeable budget to work with.
Jeremy said: "Put it this way, Marvel will be jealous of our budgets."
During their time on ‘Top Gear’ they filmed special episodes in Botswana and Vietnam, among other worldwide locations, and the ‘Grand Tour’ stars have set their sights on North Korea this time around.
Jeremy added: "You get to the point where it’s the specials when we’re out on the road in far flung places that we like doing the most.
"We did five in season three across the world in places like Mongolia and the US where we didn’t have the studio tent."
But the ‘Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?’ presenter will take a break before the trio start making any specials.
He said: "I’m having a break so I’ll let you know when I have an idea.
"We are all still Amazon boys – that’s the key thing about all this. We love working with them."
The third series of ‘The Grand Tour’ – which is estimated for have a budget of around £4 million per episode – will air on Amazon Prime next month.
The trio co-hosted ‘Top Gear’ from 2002 to 2015 but the BBC decided against renewing Jeremy’s contract following a dispute with a producer.
Richard and James also left the show, and they went on to front ‘The Grand Tour’ for Amazon Video, which made its debut on the streaming service in November 2016.
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May quit studio car show
