Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that US star Ellen DeGeneres is a local at his Oxfordshire pub, The Farmer’s Dog, since moving across the pond, describing the presenter as ‘lovely’.
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed Ellen DeGeneres is a local to his pub, The Farmer’s Dog, in Burford. The 64-year-old presenter is returning to the screen to host a new celebrity series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire… and is welcoming stars such as Tony Bellew, Stephen Fry, Fred Sirieix and Anton Du Beke to the hot seat.
But it’s not just on-screen that Jeremy meets some of showbusiness’ most famous faces, as he also has A-listers popping into his Oxfordshire pub, The Farmer’s Dog. Jeremy reveals he’s even had a visit from US star Ellen DeGeneres, who recently relocated to the UK. “She lives in the village where our pub is. Absolutely I welcome them all,” said Jeremy. “Everyone said she has been cancelled but she seemed nice when she came to the pub, the staff said she was very friendly and lovely. I am not going to believe what I read online. She seemed lovely.”
Admitting there’s one person he’d really like to see on the show, Jeremy says Queen Camilla would be his top royal choice. “Camilla would be fantastic,” said Jeremy about members of the royal family taking on the quiz show. The series will also feature Jeanette Kwakye, Richie Anderson, Roxy Shahidi, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Steph McGovern, Dion Dublin, Lucrezia Millarini, Dame Laura Kenny, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Louise Minchin.
Out of the celebrity line-up, Jeremy says it was former cruiserweight champ Tony who was the most nervous during the show. “I am not quite sure what emotion was going through him – nerves, rage, disappointment, acting, as I think he is a lot cleverer than he lets on. At one stage, he was having a class war with himself with the word ‘hobnob’,” Jeremy divulges.
The presenter’s comeback to the screen comes after a health scare which saw him undergo a life-saving heart procedure, after experiencing a “sudden deterioration” in his health. Jeremy had two stents fitted in his heart to improve blood flow following the “scary” ordeal.
Now, Jeremy says he has overhauled his diet and lifestyle and is feeling better for it. “I have been to see a dietician. The dietician has given me a pretty good list and said ‘don’t eat processed food’. If it’s got more than one ingredient in it, don’t eat it. I feel great.”
Jeremy needs to be on top form when it comes filming the new series, as contestants enlist his help when it comes to the Ask Jeremy lifeline. Despite having presented the show since 2018, Jeremy admits it doesn’t get any easier when it comes to using his own knowledge. “It’s still terrifying. This series I have been particularly hopeless. I was doing reasonably well on my average getting them right, but this series I have been really useless!”
Despite his many years of dishing out questions on the show, Jeremy says it hasn’t done any wonders for his general knowledge. “You don’t learn anything,” he explains. “I don’t think the show improves your general knowledge; it just tests it. And it’s very useful for me because I can never remember where I put my spectacles but somehow you think ‘the national beer of Sri Lanka is lion’, so you think ‘how is that in my head?!’”
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire…? returns to ITV 26th January
