Jeremy Clarkson, the former host of BBC's "Top Gear" and star of the current series "Clarkson's Farm," revealed he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that was detected early, according to remarks featured in the final episodes of Season 5 of Amazon Prime Video's "Clarkson's Farm."
Clarkson, 66, disclosed the diagnosis during conversations with farm manager Kaleb Cooper and land agent Charlie Ireland in episodes released June 16.
“I’ve got cancer,” Clarkson said on the program. “It’s aggressive, but it’s really early.”
Clarkson said the cancer was discovered after a medical examination and biopsy. He later underwent surgery to remove part of his prostate after doctors identified cancer in about 10 percent of the gland. Clarkson said early detection significantly improved his prognosis.
“If I hadn’t have got myself checked out and they hadn’t caught the problem early, this could well have been my last harvest,” Clarkson said on the show. “It’s only because they did catch it early, there’s every hope that I’ll be harvesting this farm for many, many years to come.”
“Ordinarily, we try to keep the show bucolic, charming, and cheerful,” he said in an Instagram video posted Tuesday.
“But the final two episodes ... are none of those things, really. They’re a difficult watch. They’re really, really difficult,” he said as the video stopped.
The season ends with Clarkson speaking from a hospital bed after treatment. He said some aspects of his care did not go as planned and acknowledged uncertainty about his future.
“If this is all successful, I’ll see you for season six, and if it isn’t, I won’t,” Clarkson said with a light laugh before adding, “Take care, everyone.”
Clarkson is one of Britain’s most recognizable television personalities. He gained an international audience as a presenter on "Top Gear," and turned the motoring series into a global hit.
After leaving the BBC in 2015, he joined Amazon, where he co-hosted "The Grand Tour" and later launched "Clarkson’s Farm," a series documenting his efforts to operate Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.