Top Gear car builder explains what happened when Jeremy Clarkson punched a producer

Once upon a time, Top Gear was the biggest show on television.

During its numerous incarnations, there have been several different line-ups in terms of presenters, but none were as popular as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.

That is, however, until Clarkson punched a producer - Oisin Tymon - during a late night row in 2015 which saw him subsequently get dropped by the BBC.

Tymon later launched a lawsuit against the host after being sacked from the show, and was awarded £100,000.

Hammond and May then followed their mate out the door, with the trio moving over to Amazon where they launched another motoring series, The Grand Tour.

Speaking to Joe Rogan, John Hennessy - who worked on Top Gear as a car builder - offered some insight into the tensions at the time.

When asked about the altercation, he told the host: "I know a little bit about that. So we had a velociraptor, raptor truck we that we were up in Canada with these guys, so this would have been at the end of 2014.

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"So I'm working with the producers, and [they tell him] 'You know, when you're around the talent, don't talk to them, don't spend time around them'.

"I'm like, I'm around famous people more than these guys, I mean, I don't care that they're a big deal.

"So the producer's being kind of a d**k. And so we show up with these guys and then we like, provide the vehicle, and they're gonna go across country through Canada and through the mountains, and do all this crazy s**t, and they're gonna go up on the mountain, they're gonna rescue Richard Hammond, who's at the top of the mountain.

"So now the producers are saying, 'You can't go up on the mountain while we're filming', and I'm like, 'Ok, but listen to this, I'm gonna go watch football, it's the play-offs, and if something breaks and you need us to help you, we're not coming'.

"Then they change their tune like, 'Ok, come with us'. And finally, it all turns out fine."

Hennessy then explained what happened between that producer and Clarkson soon after.

"Like two weeks later, they're somewhere else, they're in England and Jeremy gets a little bit of a temper, and these guys work long hours, and maybe they haven't eaten, and the producer guy was f**king with him and Jeremy f**king whacked the guy.

"And I'm like, 'I wanted to f**king punch that guy a couple of times too but I can't do that and I don't wanna get arrested'."

Former co-host May previously said there was a lot of pressure on them due to the show's success.

He said: "At that point [in 2015] it was reckoned it had something like 350-360 million viewers.

"It's a huge number, and there is a pressure to keep it up. Occasionally it will boil over in one way or another."