James May gives retirement hint after TV work with Clarkson and Hammond comes to an end
James May has opened up on his looming retirement after his time working with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond came to an end.
The trio have become an iconic part of British TV culture, having turned Top Gear in to a global phenomenon before leaving the BBC for Amazon Prime Video and heading up The Grand Tour.
With May now gearing up for his first TV job since The Grand Tour came to an end last month - dubbed James May and The Dull Men's Club - he has opened up on when he's going to call it a day in the TV business.
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Streaming on Discovery+ from Tuesday, 5 November, James May and The Dull Men's Club will see the former Top Gear man team up with Dull Men's Club Facebook group to answer some of the most burning 'dull' questions'.
For example, can you make a roast dinner in your washing machine while cleaning your clothes? A bizarre question, but one the show provides an answer to.
May also looks at how to create a sensor-activated scarecrow to stop deer and other animals from coming on his garden and causing a bit of a mess.
On his future in television, May told LADbible he would be very much embracing the 'Captain Slow' nickname given to him many years ago.
He said: "To be honest, I think if I make more TV, it's going to be more about it's going to be more a sort of reflective, slower pace stuff, so things like workshop shows.
"I'm doing a thing for Channel 5 about the history of explorers, it'll be that sort of thing. I'm not going to do any more falling off of horses or crashing in to mountains. I'm too old for it.
On his iconic nickname, May said: "I think they're something to be sent for a slow man. A lot of people would agree with that and doing things carefully on route to satisfaction.”
Even if the jobs are slower, he wont be doing it forever, he tell us.
"[Stopping The Grand Tour] has free me up now to do ‘hobby type’ stuff," May says.
"But you've got to bear in mind that I’m now 61, so despite what the government is doing to the retirement age and I ought to be thinking a bit about winding down and indulging myself.”
On retirement, May adds: “I suspect it won't be that long to be honest. Because I think TV tends to retire you and not the other way around, but that's okay.
"I have had a very, very decent run at it, much longer than I thought I would, so the important thing to do is to be is to be grateful for it. And I'm in the lucky position of being able to indulge my hobbies and interests."
He says: "The great thing about this show is that I'm making a show about stuff that I'll probably be doing anyway, even if the cameras weren’t there, to some extent.
"It's not a new lease of life, but it's a recognition that things should now be a little calmer and more appropriate to a man of my age.”
James May and The Dull Men's Club is available to stream on Discovery+ from Tuesday, 5 November.
Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, James May, TV, UK News, The Grand Tour
Tom Earnshaw