Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson welcomed the new hosting trio at The Grand Tour premiere
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have reunited for the new series of The Grand Tour as they welcomed in the new hosts. The trio founded Prime Video’s motoring show in 2015, following their departure from Top Gear, which they had hosted together since 2003. But in 2024, the trio announced that their time hosting the show had come to an end, as they enjoyed one final trip together across Zimbabwe and Botswana in One For The Road.
The new series, set to debut on Friday (September 4), will feature three new faces stepping up to the plate. On Wednesday night (September 2), Clarkson, May and Hammond welcomed the new refreshed line-up on the signature blue carpet at Tower Bridge in London.
The new trio comprises of train enthusiast and social media personality Francis Bourgeois, alongside YouTube motoring presenters Thomas Holland and James Englesman. Clarkson also took to Instagram to welcome the new stars to the show, sharing a group selfie of the original hosts and their successors.
He captioned the post: “Grand Tour handover. Good luck, guys. #amazonhitcarshow returns.” The upcoming series will see the new hosts tackle challenging global terrain, including navigating the Angolan desert in tracked cars and exploring Malaysia’s car culture.
The series has already been given the green light for a second season with the new hosts before it hits the streaming giant this week. Executive producer Andy Wilman confirmed that work and location planning are underway for another series, giving the new hosts a proper run to establish their own on-screen identity.
He told The Sun: “Work is ongoing for another series. There has been planning for more locations, although I don’t know what they’re looking for at this time.” Willman added that “a first series is always a scramble” but said, “this trio need a good run now at making their second series their own”.
Bourgeois, whose real name is Luke Nicolsoon, said of his Grand Tour appointment: “The saying ‘big shoes to fill’ springs to mind. Well, in this case, it’ll be like Mo Farah running in Size 14 wellies – it’ll be a little awkward at first, perhaps blister-inducing, but will overall be an interesting watch.”
Meanwhile, Holland, who hosts Throttle House – a popular automotive YouTube channel known for its car reviews and track tests alongside Englesman – added: “When I first heard they were rebooting The Grand Tour and replacing Clarkson, Hammond and May, I said, ‘Only a moron would take that job’.”
Englesman chuckled: “I’ve worked with Thomas for almost a decade, making car films. Who knew that all this time, the one ingredient that was missing was a Francis Bourgeois? Let the car adventures commence.”
