Jeremy Clarkson‘s revelation that he has been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive’ form of prostate cancer left fans devastated.
The deadly disease is diagnosed in 64,000 men every year in the UK – making it the most common form of cancer among males – and it kills more than 12,000 annually.
Clarkson, however, who was diagnosed last May, said he managed to catch the cancer ‘really early’ and underwent treatment and an operation just three months later, in August. The cancer reacts well to treatment if it is caught and diagnosed quickly.
Although it is not yet known whether the 66-year-old has been given the all-clear, it is another serious health scare for the former Top Gear and Grand Tour host, who has faced several medical emergencies over the years.
Famously, Clarkson claimed he was told that he could have died in August 2017 after a battle with severe pneumonia.
The TV presenter, who also hosts Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, had smoked 40 cigarettes a day for 43 years before being rushed to hospital while on holiday in Mallorca with the serious infection.
Before seeking treatment, the then-57-year-old said he had spent three nights ‘spasming’ in bed before a doctor told him that he needed to be taken to hospital.
At that time he was working on The Grand Tour with Richard Hammond and James May and, when informed that he would need to remain in hospital for at least a week, Clarkson said that it would be impossible.
Jeremy Clarkson’s revelation that he has been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive’ form of prostate cancer has shocked fans
Clarkson said he managed to catch the cancer ‘really early’ and underwent treatment and an operation just three months later, in August
But the doctor responded, simply: ‘If you don’t do as I say you will die.’
The ordeal terrified Clarkson so much that he stopped smoking immediately, as smoking can increase the likelihood of developing the disease by weakening the body’s immune system.
After recovering, the father-of-three said: ‘I got pneumonia while I was on holiday, and I was told, by everyone, that I had to stop [smoking]. Immediately.
‘I had no choice at the time because the blood poisoning was so bad and I was so racked with the resultant rigors that I couldn’t work a cigarette lighter.’
In jest, he added: ‘A few handy hints I can pass on. You could move to Australia, where smoking is just about impossible. But that would mean living in Australia, which would be a bit dreary.
‘So stay here and go to the cinema a lot. Or shopping centres. And go to bed early.
‘The next handy hint I can pass on is Nicorette 4mg ‘original flavour’ gum. At £18 a pack it’s more expensive than smoking gold, and it causes you to hiccup sometimes, but it delivers the nicotine and that keeps you on an even keel.
‘Because of it, I’ve murdered only three people in the past two days, and one of those was an Uber driver so that doesn’t really count.
‘What’s more, I spend so much time chewing gum, I can’t eat, and as a result, since I gave up, I’ve lost a stone. True fact, that.’
Despite smoking an estimated 630,000 cigarettes over four decades, Clarkson remained healthy for many years.
Clarkson (pictured with James May and Richard Hammond) battled pneumonia in late 2017
Clarkson gave up smoking shortly after having pneumonia as he previously smoked 40 cigarettes per day for 43 years
Medical tests carried out after his pneumonia diagnosis were said to have shown that he had 96 per cent of the lung capacity expected for someone of his age.
He also claimed he could breathe out ‘harder and longer’ than a non-smoking 40-year-old.
That same year, Clarkson met his partner Lisa Hogan, with whom he now runs Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, the forefront of his hugely popular TV series Clarkson’s Farm.
For several years, he then appeared to enjoy good health before suffering another major scare after returning from another holiday in October 2024.
Emergency heart surgery to fix a blocked artery
The father-of-three had recently returned home from a trip when he felt a ‘tightness’ in his chest and ‘pins and needles’ down his left arm.
It followed difficulty he faced abroad while swimming in the Indian Ocean, as well as feeling unsteady on his feet and trouble climbing flights of stairs.
He required hospitalisation and underwent a major heart procedure where he had a stent fitted – which allows narrows or blocked arteries to open up.
Writing in his Sunday Times column at the time, he said ‘it felt like he’d put a Hoover pipe up my arm, along with a pile driver, and was busy inside my heart with a B&Q chisel and hammer gift set’.
He added: ‘The next morning I went home, and here I am, two hours later, writing this and sort of thinking, ‘Crikey, that was close.’ I have no idea why I had felt clammy the previous day or why I’d had those pins and needles. I certainly wasn’t having a heart attack.
‘But if it hadn’t looked that way, I never would have been sent to hospital and fed into that Polo mint.’
Coronary heart disease
From there, he faced more heart-related complications, revealing in the first episode of the fifth – and most recent – season of Clarkson’s Farm that he had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD).
CHD is a leading cause of death in Britain, killing around 94,000 people in the UK – an average of one every eight minutes.
The 66-year-old also hosts popular gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Clarkson has become central to the farming movement since beginning his TV series in 2021
It is caused by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries, which wrap around the outside of the heart.
Clarkson said one of his arteries was completely blocked while two others were dangerously narrowed, restricting blood flow to his heart before doctors inserted stents to restore circulation.
Addressing the procedure on the show, he told farmhand Kaleb Cooper: ‘I’m back and not dead. The grim reaper will have to wait. It was f*****g close, though.’
He said he knew something was wrong when began feeling the pins and needles in his arm again, this time while scrolling on his phone.
He added: ‘If I hadn’t been doing that, I wouldn’t have got pins and needles in my arm and, if I hadn’t got pins and needles, I wouldn’t have thought, “Hang on, I’m having heart problems”, and I wouldn’t have gone to hospital.’
Following the diagnosis, Clarkson revealed he had revamped his diet and lifestyle.
He said: ‘I’ve 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.’
It is unclear when exactly he was diagnosed with CHD, but the latest season was filmed from late 2024 to September 2025.
Prostate cancer
However, when revealing his prostate cancer diagnosis, he said: ‘So, we started the year and I had coronary heart disease and ended it with me with cancer.’
News of the cancer diagnosis shocked fans, who quickly flooded social media to send Clarkson their best wishes.
Clarkson was visibly saddened when he broke the news to Cooper and his farming adviser, Charlie Ireland, during an emotional scene in the series.
Clarkson is pictured with Kaleb Cooper (left), Charlie Ireland (second, left) and Lisa Hogan
The trio had been discussing plans for the upcoming harvest when the broadcaster told them.
After establishing that crops would be ready for harvest at the end of July, Clarkson exhaled and says: ‘F***’.
As Cooper asks if he is ‘going away’, Clarkson leans back into his chair and, while struggling to keep his composure, tells the shell-shocked pair: ‘Yep. I’ve got cancer.’
‘I had a medical, you remember back in May. I disappeared off the other week and I had a biopsy and it is cancer and it’s aggressive, but it’s really early so the treatment will be, you know.
‘I was praying we could get the harvest done and then I could go and get some treatment but it’s going to be slap bang in the middle.’
In the series finale, cameras cut to an ambulance with its blue lights flashing before showing Clarkson in a hospital bed, where he reveals that his treatment has not gone entirely to plan.
He says: ‘Some of the treatment has gone awry, let’s say, I’m going to be here for a little while. I’m nil by mouth, I don’t know what’s going to happen.
‘What I wanted to say was if this is all successful I’ll see you for season six and if it isn’t I won’t. Take care everyone.’
Despite his latest battle, Clarkson has continued to work with a new series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? currently undergoing production.
A sixth season of Clarkson’s Farm has also been ordered by Prime Video, though production of the next series is expected to pause to allow Clarkson time to recover.
