Jeremy Clarkson is now in remission after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, as the former Top Gear host urges fans to get checked — saying early detection saved his life
Jeremy Clarkson has announced he is in remission, updating fans on social media and expressing his gratitude for their support following his revelation that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The former Top Gear presenter, 66, broke the news in the latest episodes of the fifth series of Clarkson’s Farm, disclosing that the disease was “aggressive” but had been caught at an early stage.
The television personality also confirmed that he underwent surgery to remove part of his prostate, with the series concluding with him revealing he had suffered complications during his treatment.
In a recent interview with The Times, he disclosed that he was now in remission, after a follow-up PSA test two months ago showed no signs of cancer.
He said, as per the Mirror.: “I am without a doubt, officially, the world’s luckiest man. It was an aggressive type of cancer. It could have spread, it could have gone into the pancreas, it could have gone anywhere, and that would have been trouble.”
“This is why I have to say to everybody who’s reading this, please, please, please go and get checked. It’s not uncomfortable, it’s not undignified. And it’s a no-brainer.
“I did, and that’s why I’m sitting here talking to you 11 months down the line. I’ve seen so many people die of cancer. It doesn’t bear thinking about what it must be like to live knowing that an illness is going to kill you.”
Taking to Instagram for the first time since the new series aired, Clarkson shared a post captioned: “Thank you so much for all the kind messages I’ve had but now, a announcement.”
In it, the television presenter urged his followers to “get tested”, even encouraging them to “lie” about having symptoms in order to do so.
“The more observant among you will have noticed that I’m not dead, and I’m not just not dead, I’m perfectly fine. My eyebrows, in particular, are looking very lustrous, and the reason why I’m fine is because the doctors caught the prostate cancer early, and they caught it early because I got tested,” he said in the video posted to social media.
“Now I know a lot of you will say I don’t want to be tested because it means someone will have to put their finger in me, but it’s just a blood test these days, and if you go to your doctor and he says, Well, I’m not going to test you because you don’t have any symptoms, and you’re not in a high-risk category.
“Just lie, just lie, say you have got symptoms, say that you have to get up 32 times in the night for a wee, and that there’s some dribbling, because look, 10, 12,000 people people, men to be honest, men die every year in the UK from prostate cancer. Don’t be one of them. Get tested.”
Clarkson, 66, has been flooded with messages of support after viewers watched him disclose his diagnosis in an episode of his reality TV show. “I’ve got cancer,” Clarkson told farm manager Kaleb Cooper and land agent Charlie Ireland during discussions about harvest planning.
The TV presenter said he expected to be “fine” but would be out of action “for a while”, before revealing in the final episode of the series that he had undergone an operation to remove part of his prostate.
He said: “I won’t know whether it’s worked or not until November probably…The prostate, 10% of it’s dead, the 10% where the cancer is.”
Speaking from a hospital bed at the end of the series finale, Clarkson disclosed he had suffered complications during treatment.
He said: “We started season five with me in a hospital bed and here we are at the end of season five and I’m back in a hospital bed.”
The 66-year-old reflected on what lies ahead for the programme. Clarkson added: “What I wanted to say was if this is all successful, I’ll see you for season six, and if it isn’t, I won’t. Take care, everyone.”
Clarkson’s partner has also expressed her appreciation for the wave of support following his prostate cancer diagnosis.
Irish actress Lisa Hogan, who has been in a relationship with Clarkson since 2017, posted a photograph to her Instagram story showing the presenter seated on a garden chair while holding a camera.
Across the image she wrote “back at the farm”, signalling her return to their residence after attending day two of the races at Royal Ascot in Berkshire. Hogan also shared a screenshot of charity Prostate Cancer UK’s Instagram post expressing gratitude to Clarkson for disclosing his diagnosis and treatment on the Prime Video show, stating it would generate “vital awareness”.
The Dublin-born actress wrote: “Thank you for all the support today.”
Prior to the new episodes of Clarkson’s Farm dropping on Prime, the former Top Gear host had cautioned viewers that series five was not purely light-hearted entertainment.
He said: “Sombre news – Clarkson’s Farm, ordinarily we try to keep the show bucolic and charming, and cheerful, but two episodes which drop in the middle of the night tonight are, they’re none of those things, really. They’re a difficult watch, they’re really, really difficult.”
Farmhand Gerald Cooper had revealed in a previous series that he too had received a prostate cancer diagnosis, before later confirming he was cancer free in 2024.
Clarkson’s Farm follows the long-standing television presenter and his team as they tackle the trials and tribulations of managing Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
Since taking on the running of his farm in 2019 and subsequently launching his hugely popular reality series, Clarkson has become a passionate champion of farmers and attended a demonstration in London opposing the Government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on agricultural land in November 2024. The sixth series of the programme is set to air in 2027.
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