Jodie Kidd on why Jeremy Clarkson’s Grand Tour trumps Top Gear and turning down the BBC
Former model took on extreme cycle challenge Tour de Celeb for Channel 5 in favour of fronting Beeb's flagship motor show
JODIE KIDD has fired up the rivalry between The Grand Tour and Top Gear, declaring Clarkson & Co the best in the business.
The former model, who was the top choice to replace Jeremy after he was sacked last year, said Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc’s efforts at banter fell flat.
And she admitted she is relieved she turned the BBC down when they begged her to come on board.
Jodie said: “I don’t care what anyone says — no one can review a car with wit and brilliance like Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
“And this new series of Top Gear wasn’t great.
“It takes a lot of series to get to know someone and really get a lot of good banter, and all of the BBC’s new presenters have got to settle down. They will get it, I hope.
It’s there — it’s just got to settle down.
“But there’s so much change at the moment that everything is all over the place.”
Car-mad Jodie, 38 — who admits she has a “need for speed” — quickly became the favourite to replace Sun columnist Jeremy when he left the Beeb last year.
Chris Evans, a long-term pal of the star, strongly backed bosses’ persistent efforts to sign her up.
But while Jodie says other commitments stopped her getting involved, she admits to being worried about the inevitably difficult change in the presenting teams.
She explained: “It’s such an amazing job to have to drive cars around and to get paid for it. It’s something I love and adore.
“But it was always going to be quite complicated in the first year without Jeremy, Richard and James.
“Who knows what will happen in the future? It’s all still up in the air. But am I relieved I didn’t take the job last year? I’m very relieved.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to have got caught up in all of that.
“They (the BBC) were talking three-year contracts with 50 shows but it just didn’t feel right.”
The gruelling mission, which is going out on Channel 5, will see her attempt to complete race L’Etape du Tour alongside eight other celebrities.
And Jodie said she was desperate to take part after being offered a spot.
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She said: “Tour de Celeb is one of the reasons I didn’t do Top Gear — it was already on the cards.
“It was one of the things, alongside The Classic Car Show and my Help for Heroes commitments, that meant I would have had to let people down. I didn’t want to do that. Especially with Help for Heroes, I had made a commitment last year and it was very important for me to honour that.
“I have been given a lot over the years and I’ve had incredible luck or advantages in my career.
“So I just really wanted to give something back.
“And then Tour de Celeb was a wonderful way of learning how to ride properly, and being taught by professionals.
“I knew it would be an amazing challenge.
“But it has honestly been so tough. At the start I thought, ‘I’ll be fine, I’ve been riding, I’ve got my own bike . . . ’ Hell, was I wrong!”
Jodie is taking part alongside people as diverse as rugby ace Austin Healey, telly presenter Angellica Bell and Towie’s Lucy Mecklenburgh. She has been training since April.
And despite a year in which she biked round Burma, climbed Kilimanjaro and cycled the length of the Western Front in France, she admits the challange has tested her to the limits.
She went on: “It’s painful, it’s nasty — it really is. It takes you to somewhere very strange.
“I think it’s the endurance and going through that wall. Every other day at least we are doing marathons, so you go to this strange plateau of weirdness.
“Everyone goes through such a personal journey because when you’re pushing your body and your mind, you do go to dark places. You’re so tired.
“Some people have been more vocal, some have had more teary moments.
“But then, when your endurance improves, you get to this place where you can just go. It’s extraordinary but once you’ve done it it’s wonderful.”
But she has managed to carve out some time to relax. She said: “When I go back home, I’ve got Indy, I’ve got to weed the garden, I’ve got to dig up the carrots and the potatoes for dinner, then cook dinner, then I’m here and there and fixing the car.
“It’s been a handful. But at night time, I do veg out in front of the TV.
“I sort Indy, I do his bath, put him to bed and read him a story.
“Then it’s a glass of wine, a piece of cheese and Game Of Thrones.
“By the time I’ve had my chill-out, it’s about midnight.
“But it’s about finding a balance and the show team have been fantastic in adapting to our lives.
“Some of the trainers get up at 4am to train Angellica and then me after I drop Indy at school — they’ve been wonderfully supportive.
“Because of them I’ve been able to be a mum and do the toughest amateur race in the world.
“Forty per cent of everyone who entered last year didn’t complete, but I’m determined to.
“And I’m the kind of person who will drag myself up with my nails if I have to.”
- Tour de Celeb continues on Monday on Channel 5 at 7pm.
Tour is explosive
By NICK FRANCIS, Sunday motors editor
RATHER than step off the gas after getting everyone through the door for episode one, the next instalments of The Grand Tour are more explosive.
Watching three out-of-shape and middle-aged men partake in gruelling anti-terror army training is fun for anyone, car fan or not. Seriously, Clarkson is one flashbang away from a heart attack.
The tented studio segments, filmed in front of an audience, are slicker and less stilted than previously. And for the purist car fanatics, you get to see the monstrous Aston Martin Vulcan being driven in anger. It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Nicely, they’ve done away with the blockbuster intro too, instead giving viewers a bit of background of the new locations where they’re based.
The third episode sees the trio racing boats in Venice, below, before coming home to Blighty to attack Clarkson’s Cotswolds home with diggers following Jezza’s comedy wager in episode one.
The jokes flow, the ribbing is relentless, and everyone is having the time of their life.