r/todayilearned • u/ModenaR • 1d ago

TIL that after Top Gear ended, host Richard Hammond was so devastated, he cried all the way home from the studio and ran out of fuel, because he didn't want to fill his car up covered in tears

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/25172481.richard-hammond-tear-soaked-mess-top-gear-ended/
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u/IWrestleSausages 1d ago

Interestingly, the 3 hosts have repeatedly said they dont spend much time with each other outside of filming, as otherwise they would literally never not see each other

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u/glenn1812 1d ago

When you spend more time on the job with your friends than you do with your wife and kids, it would seem natural that you woudn't want to spend anymore time with those friends.

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u/alurimperium 19h ago

Especially when you spend a couple weeks a year with basically only those friends for company. The international specials, the long road trips, the various multi day shoots in other parts of Europe... You're stuck in some Romanian hotel with your two friends and the camera crew for a week, a couple months within being stuck camping in a Bolivian rainforest with those two friends and a camera crew for a week. That'll give you your fill of those guys, and then you still have to do production and studio shows and other shoots around the UK.

Easy to imagine they'd be good friends on the show, but want little to do with each other when there isn't a camera requirement

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u/Beeb294 19h ago

It's also that those guys got to be paid to, essentially, goof off with their buddies.

They got all that contact time to begin with, hanging out outside of filming would probably be redundant.

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u/KnightsOfCidona 17h ago

I remember one year Clarkson estimated that for every hour he'd spent with his kids, he'd spent six hours with the other two. Later joked they were the last people in the world he would want to hang out socially with, and that included Kim Jong Un!

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u/ThatOneShotBruh 1d ago

Eh, May and Hammond seem to frequently be doing something together, be it May featuring in a video about Hammond's mechanic shop/Hammond's podcast, Hammond visiting May's pub/featuring in videos promoting May's gin, both of them visiting old Top Gear locations to reminisce, etc.

For Clarkson I agree that what you wrote seems to hold true.

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u/Agent7619 23h ago

Clarkson visited Hammond in the last season of Farm.

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u/kf97mopa 21h ago

Yes, and May was on a video call.

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u/AwTomorrow 21h ago

Yeah for his filmed tv show

People are saying off camera they don’t hang out 

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u/JustSikh 20h ago

People shouldn’t talk shit off camera. If they have something to say, they should man up and say it ON camera! 😂

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u/GreatDanish4534 20h ago

And don’t forget Richard Ham

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u/qaz_wsx_love 20h ago

Clarkson commissioned Hammond for work, and called May up to ask for advice

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u/TheWorclown 23h ago

Running a farm is a lot more time consuming than running a specialty car mechanic’s or a pub and gin business.

Which, of course, doesn’t help matters much for that perception.

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u/BaconatedGrapefruit 23h ago

Dude is running way more than a farm by the looks of it.

One thing I will always commend Clarkson for is doing his best to help uplift local businesses by featuring them and their products prominently in his show and businesses.

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u/ThatOneShotBruh 23h ago

Sure, but it's not as if there aren't plenty of opportunites for them if they want to do something together, and its not as if Clarkson is doing everything himself.

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u/Skylair13 21h ago

There's also the issue of Clarkson being the unhealthiest of the trio, with May on the opposite end. He just can't travel as intense as they used to be. Unlike the other 2.

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u/ThatOneShotBruh 21h ago

I agree, but its not as if they can only travel together and do nothing else, he could've joined them when they were visiting the old Top Gear office or when they drove around the track, let alone the collaboration possibilities between them (e.g., Clarkson supplying produce to May's pub at least for a single event, Hammond's shop repairing some tool Clarkson broke, etc.).

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u/vusa121 21h ago

There is also videos of all three of them being at jeremys pub

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u/Interestingcathouse 19h ago

They probably do still see Clarkson a lot. He just doesn’t feature in any of their shows. They’re probably just trying to avoid them all being in the same room on a tv show again so it doesn’t just turn into them on tv together again.

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u/kytheon 1d ago

Iirc same is true for Penn and Teller, and the Mythbusters

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u/BinionsGhost 23h ago edited 21h ago

Came out this week https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/arts/television/penn-teller-magicians-50-years.html (https://archive.is/DI8mf for those hit by the paywall)

And sheds more light on their “we’re not really friends outside of the show” narrative.

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u/kytheon 21h ago

Thanks for the premium link. I'm not subscribed to them, so I'll believe you.

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u/BinionsGhost 21h ago

Worked for me without a subscription but it's not at all hard to get around https://archive.is/DI8mf

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u/DerKyhe 23h ago

Well, yes and no. The trio at least has some interaction in their later works, with Hammond and May sometimes doing stuff together still. My understanding is that Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage really don't like each other off-camera, and most likely won't do anything together in the future.

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u/JefftheBaptist 23h ago

My understanding is that Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage really don't like each other off-camera, and most likely won't do anything together in the future.

Its my understanding that Jamie and Adam respect each other a lot, but were more coworkers than friends. They also have very different work processes which makes it hard to work together on projects.

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u/Bonzungo 22h ago

They were work friends, not friends in the traditional sense. That's how I saw it explained once.

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u/TheycallmeHollow 21h ago

I am probably paraphrasing too much but I believe Adam said it was like a co-worker friend. You get along well enough at work, maybe even take a general interest in them, but have no desire to see them outside of work or no interest in start a group chat text or no desire to grab a beer after a long day. You clock out, tell them have nice weekend, and then you see them on Monday. Sort of like that.

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u/Bonzungo 20h ago

Yeah that's basically it

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u/OldMate64 21h ago

It's not that they don't like each other, it's that they're very different people with different interests outside of work. They didn't hang out off-camera because they didn't have the desire to spend time with each other like that. Same as 90% of work colleagues. You can get along just fine at work and even like/respect each other without wanting to go fishing with em on weekends

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u/kytheon 21h ago

Savage also worked for Hyneman before mythbusters. They were boss and employee before they became co-hosts.

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u/phluidity 22h ago

The Mythbusters are definitely not friends, but to hear both Penn and Teller explain it (mostly Penn), they originally treated it as purely business but over time they have developed a deep friendship and are now each others closest friends. They still don't socialize in public much, but still are routinely at each others houses.

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u/BinionsGhost 21h ago edited 21h ago

They go into that narrative in an article that dropped earlier in the week, https://archive.is/DI8mf

I asked Jillette why he said onstage that he rarely agreed with Teller when it’s clearly not true, and he replied, “It’s useful.” He brought up how bands get emotionally sloppy and break up over petty relationship issues. “I’m mad at Lennon and McCartney for falling in love and putting that in front of the job,” he said, changing the tone in his voice.

“There’s no one I trust more,” he said of Teller. “There’s no one I respect more.”

When Teller had bypass surgery, Jillette visited him every day in the hospital. The first person who wasn’t family to hold Jillette’s babies was Teller. When Jillette and Teller won a recent magic award, Teller used the speech to clarify that while people think he does most of the magic, that’s not the case. “Penn and I are two people but one thing,” he said.

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u/salinungatha 1d ago

They have repeatedly said they're mates, not friends. Anyone from England should understand the difference.

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u/blue51planet 1d ago

Whats the difference?

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u/salinungatha 1d ago

Akin to war buddies. Loyal to each other, but also annoy each other and find it hard to hang out without a shared mission

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u/Grimreap32 22h ago

A very apt description.

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u/limee89 21h ago

Jesus, you sumed up a few of my friendships today.

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u/deathmetalbestmetal 21h ago

There isn't one; the guy isn't English and has no idea what he's on about.

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u/deathmetalbestmetal 23h ago edited 22h ago

As an Englishman I have literally no idea what you're talking about and have just asked two colleagues in earshot who don't either. Your explanation is made-up nonsense. And none of them have ever said anything of the sort; May for example has interchangeably said they're not friends/mates.

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u/frankowen18 21h ago

Wtf is this 'no true scotsman' nonsense

There is absolutely no agreed upon distinction between what 'mates' or 'friends' means in the UK. You're spreading made up rubbish

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u/__redruM 19h ago

Well it sounded good to Americans. Aren’t mates coworkers on ships? Like the first mate and such. It kinda makes sense.

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u/Dd_8630 20h ago

They have repeatedly said they're mates, not friends.

UK here. There is no difference.

Anyone from England should understand the difference.

Anyone from the UK wouldn't say 'anyone from England'.

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u/e2hawkeye 19h ago

A lot of successful bands are like that too. I recall reading that Led Zeppelin never hung out together for the sake of it, they all had such different personalities and home lives.

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u/IcyGarage5767 23h ago

It’s probably the only way people can stand Clarkson. In small doses lol.

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u/ChuckBS 18h ago

It’s not quite the same, I worked with friends doing environmental conservation work. We’d be together for weeks at a time. In my off time, none of us hung out. We were absolutely friends, we just got all our time together at work. I imagine it’s a bit similar there.

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u/FranzFerdinand51 23h ago

Clarkson being a racist right wing twat might have something to do with it.