Entertainment
The Grand Tour Scotland special: Horror as Richard Hammond left stranded without lifejacket after capsizing boat
Richard Hammond was aggrieved no-one jumped in to save him (Picture: Jeff Spicer/WireImage)
The Grand Tour star Richard Hammond is no stranger to accidents on the set of his shows, and the new Scotland special saw him capsize his boat while filming the dramatic finale.
The last act of The Grand Tour Presents… Lochdown sees Richard, Jeremy Clarkson and James May back behind the wheel to make the perilous journey across a body of water on a makeshift jetty.
While James and Jeremy head over on their American muscle cars, Richard made his way in a boat on his own, only to accidentally capsize and leave the craft hurtling below the surface.
While Jeremy and James were left helpless with laughter, Richard was aggrieved that no-one attempted to jump in and save him – especially as he was ill-dressed for the conditions and had forgotten to pull the cord on his lifejacket.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk and other press, Richard said: ‘Long story short, I gave [the boat] a little bit of throttle, we started to rock and then James said “Go on, pull harder”. So I gave it all the throttle, and it flipped and sank.’
When asked what went through his mind at the time, Richard said: ‘There wasn’t time for a lot to go through. And my mind isn’t the quickest of devices at the best of times.’
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The presenter was also at pains to say that the incident definitely wasn’t a stunt, but a very real and accidental occurrence.
‘You see it on camera in real time. And by the way, this was very much not expected. If that had been a stunt it would have been two days work. It would never have been as good,’ he said.
‘The real luck we had was that we had this one little GoPro camera mounted on the boat that kept me in frame as it sank.’
Taking issue with his co-stars, Richard added: ‘You’ll also notice, because ours is a show that thrives on failure, nobody jumped in the water to save me. There wasn’t a safety boat because we weren’t doing anything that demanding.
Clarkson and the others attempted to cross a body of water in perilous circumstances (Picture: Amazon Prime Video)
‘Everyone took their cameras and filmed it, and I splashed about wearing a pair of big boots, jeans, a sweater and a waxed jacket. Which isn’t the best for swimming.’
Jeremy, it turns out, had a different view of the experience – and, in fact, found the whole thing absolutely hilarious.
‘Honestly, my knees collapsed when that happened,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t breathe. I was laughing so much I thought “I’ve got to breathe in, or I’m going to suffocate”.
The presenter added: ‘He said afterwards “nobody tried to help me”. But nobody could, because we were too busy laughing.
The trio are back on the road in the Scotland special (Picture: WireImage)
‘He forgot to pull his lifejacket. If you look he doesn’t pull his cord to inflate his lifejacket. So he’s trying to swim in his boots and his jacket and everything.’
Thankfully, Richard made it through the incident and managed to travel across the other side of the bridge eventually, despite the unexpected swim.
More: Jeremy Clarkson
It certainly made for one of the most perilous set-pieces ever attempted on The Grand Tour, though, which came when the trio filmed between lockdowns in 2020.
There’s also a hilarious prank to look out for, which saw James’s caravan completely filled with water by the others – and it turns out James is already planning his revenge.
A release date has yet to be confirmed.
The Grand Tour Presents… Lochdown will arrive on Amazon Prime Video on July 30.
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