Clarkson’s Farm is usually a quality source of free-range laughs. Over the last five years, we’ve watched Jeremy Clarkson’s calamitous attempts at running his own farm – from being ganged up on by a herd of aggressive cows and squabbling with farm hand Kaleb Cooper, to buying a Lamborghini tractor that wouldn’t fit in his barn.
Today’s finale, though, had a markedly different tone. Viewers will have been blindsided by Clarkson’s revelation that he’d been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer, with highly personal scenes showing the star receiving treatment in a hospital bed.
It was a dark note for a show known for its breezy approach to British farm life, with Clarkson even hinting that his health could stop the show from returning for another series in the very last scene.
“Some of the treatment has gone a bit awry, let’s say, so I’m going to be here for a little while,” he sighs while bed bound, having been told that he’s “nil by mouth” – meaning that he can’t ingest any food, drink or medication. “I don’t know what’s going to happen but what I wanted to say was if this is all successful, I’ll see you in season six, and if it isn’t, I won’t. Take care, everyone.”
What’s notable is that, although scenes from the show were filmed last year, the news of Clarkson’s cancer diagnosis has been completely hidden from the public.
As fans of the presenter will know, the storylines explored in Clarkson’s Farm are often fairly predictable thanks to his frequent updates in his weekly column for The Times, on social media and the ex Top Gear star’s various TV and radio appearances. Clarkson originally revealed that he had been “days away” from a heart attack and needed his arteries unblocked in an October 2024 column – a year and a half before he spoke about it on Clarkson’s Farm.
Elsewhere in the series, Diddly Squat was forced to destroy a pregnant cow suspected of having bovine tuberculosis (bTB), which he revealed at the time on Instagram in October last year. In the grim finale, an emotional Clarkson is told that according to the cow’s post mortem, it never actually had bTB. “They’ve killed my pregnant cow for no reason,” he says in the penultimate scene. “You know that expression, ‘my blood is boiling’?”
This time, though, Clarkson waited until the final episode of the show’s fifth series to reveal he was being treated for prostate cancer, meaning that he’s kept the news under wraps for over a year after being diagnosed in May 2025.
“I’ve got cancer,” he tells land agent Charlie Ireland and farm hand Cooper in the penultimate episode. “Where it is is of no concern of anybody. I’ve known since May.
“I had a biopsy done and it is cancer. It’s aggressive but it’s really early,” he added.
Clarkson underwent an operation as part of his prostate cancer treatment in August, telling the show: “The prostate, 10 per cent of it’s dead. The 10 per cent where the cancer is.”
While Clarkson typically tries to keep the mood light on the show, its fifth series ends on an uncharacteristically gloomy note – which the presenter warned fans of the day before its release. Taking to Instagram in a video on Tuesday (16 June), Clarkson said that the final episodes would be a “difficult watch” due to his “somber” update.
“On Clarkson’s Farm – ordinarily we try to keep the show bucolic and charming and cheerful but the final two episodes, which drop in the middle of the night tonight, are none of those things really,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “They’re a difficult watch. They’re really, really difficult.”
Clarkson is yet to share an update on his cancer after ending the series on an ominous note, but he has been busy since the hospital scenes were filmed at the end of last year. The presenter was seen filming ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in an update shared to Instagram in November and according to social media, he’s been back on the farm to introduce his dog Margaery to Diddly Squat’s breeding bull Endgam
Clarkson also took to social media last month to celebrate the Hawkstone Farmers Choir winning Britain’s Got Talent, having brought 34 British farmers together to create the choir and raise awareness for mental health issues within the agricultural community.
Clarkson’s Farm is still a roaring success for Prime Video, beating both ITV’s and the BBC’s FIFA World Cup coverage as the most streamed on-demand title this week. With the star now using it as a vehicle to send an update that has sent shockwaves through the viewing public, fans will be unlikely to switch off anytime soon.
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