Grand Tour star James May breaks silence on Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘creepy’ Meghan Markle column

James May has said that Jeremy Clarkson's controversial column about Meghan Markle was "too creepy" in a new interview.

In December, Clarkson, 62, from Doncaster, sparked rage with an op-ed for The Sun, in which he wrote that he despises the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level” and wishes to see people “throw lumps of excrement” at her.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Clarkson’s Grand Tour co-star James May, 60, from Bristol, admitted he "wouldn't have written" the piece about Meghan but said he is "in favour of free speech.

“To be brutally honest, I didn’t read the thing because I was away – is that a terrible thing to say?” May said.

“He said something like, ‘All people my age think the same way.’ I’d like to go on the record and say I don’t – I’m only a couple of years younger than him.

“I think it sounds a little bit too creepy, but I’m also very much in favour of free speech and allowing the haters to hate so we can see what they have to say,” May continued.

The column became the most complained about in history, with more than 20,800 complaints to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).

Clarkson released a full statement about the situation on Instagram and claims he personally emailed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Christmas morning to apologise for The Sun article.

A statement from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed that the email from the TV presenter was “solely to Prince Harry” and it was “never addressed to Meghan”.

Prince Harry previously addressed Clarkson’s comments, describing them as “horrific”, “hurtful” and “cruel” during an interview with Tom Bradby for ITV to discuss the release of his memoir, Spare.

It now casts doubt over the future of the Grand Tour, with Amazon Prime rumoured to be cutting ties with 62-year-old Clarkson from 2024, after the commissioned seasons of the motoring show.

James May recently admitted on social media that he is enduring a “difficult time” in light of the controversy.

The presenter lost his job on Top Gear in 2015 after he chose to stand by Clarkson following his suspension by the BBC for an “unprovoked physical attack” on the show’s producer Oisin Tymon.