They’re preparing for the release of their latest The Grand Tour special, A Massive Hunt, this time taking on one of the world’s most difficult roads to drive.
And Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he and his co-hosts ended up swimming in shark-infested waters after Richard Hammond attempted to speak French during their time in Réunion.
Speaking about the Hammond’s lack of language skills, Jeremy explained how after a day swimming they were told a man had been eaten by a shark just the day before.
Oh dear: Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he and his The Grand Tour co-hosts ended up swimming in shark-infested waters after Richard Hammond attempted to speak French during their time in Réunion while filming for the upcoming A Massive Hunt special
Jeremy said: ‘When we were in Réunion we had a day of sorting ourselves out and we all met on the beach and Hammond suggested snorkelling.
‘So, he went off to the little hut where you could borrow the flippers and snorkels and he came back and he said, “My French is really coming along, I’ve just had a long conversation with the man in the hut in French.”
‘We then went swimming and snorkelling and when we got back, we were told that the day before, a man had been eaten by a shark. Exactly in that spot, off that same beach, inside the reef where we were snorkelling.
‘So, this French man was clearly saying, “Don’t go swimming” and Hammond was saying “I like to go snorkelling on Wednesdays.”‘
All good fun: The presenters went to Réunion and Madagascar to film their latest The Grand Tour special, A Massive Hunt (pictured is James May during the shoot)
Jeremy continued: ‘Half of the world’s shark attacks are off Réunion and we went swimming there like idiots.
‘Everyone on the beach was staring at us like, “What on earth are they doing…?’” And this was all because Richard Hammond thinks he can speak French.’
Richard also reflected on the mixup ahead of the show being released in December which will show the trio racing on the most expensive road ever built before tackling a road renowned to be the toughest in the world.
Richard said: ‘I don’t like sharks. When we first arrived on Réunion we decided to go for a swim, so I pranced off to the man with the snorkels and deployed my excellent French.
What a story: Jeremy said after the swim the locals looked at them in disbelief, adding ‘half of the world’s shark attacks are off Réunion and we went swimming there like idiots’
Impressive: The trio got to take their modified sports cars on an impressive new road, with Jeremy saying: ‘We were the first people ever to drive on it’
‘He was chatting away and I was chatting back, and it was all great. Me and Clarkson and May had a splash about in the coral reef and then we heard the awful news that the previous day a man had been eaten by a shark exactly where we were.
‘So, the others pointed out that the French man was probably saying, “For God’s sake don’t go in the water, you will die”. Nobody else was in the water…’
In the new show the presenters get to race their sports cars on an impressive new road, with Jeremy saying: ‘We were the first people ever to drive on it.
Richard added that the drive was ‘incredible’, saying: ‘It’s the ultimate ring road because it circumnavigates the whole island: what an incredibly expensive solution to the problem.
Stunning: Jeremy, Richard and James are given a challenge to find treasure in the show and have to battle a range of terrains on their mission
On the road: Richard said the first drive was ‘incredible’, adding: ‘ It’s the ultimate ring road because it circumnavigates the whole island’
Bit of a mix up: Richard said he ‘pranced off to the man with the snorkels and deployed my excellent French’ ahead of the language confusion incident
‘It’s an incredible thing: an amazing engineering feat. What an amazing amount of money. Thank goodness for the EU.’
While James also agreed, saying: ‘As a civil engineering feat it’s fantastic and it’s a tremendous place to have a drag race.’
However they are then tasked with a challenge and the prize they are told to find has evaded discovery for centuries, its whereabouts baffling the most brilliant of minds, including that of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
The trio believe the answer lies across the Indian Ocean on the island of Madagascar so set to work modifying their cars for the task.
Tricky: During the journey the hosts tackled what is often referred too as the world’s worst road, the RN5 (James May is pictured getting stuck in very muddy terrain)
Slowest yet: During the trip Jeremy, Richard and James only covered 139 miles all together, and some days it was only a few miles due to the tough conditions
Smart choice? Jeremy drove a Bentley Continental for the challenge
Larking around: The trio are known for the entertaining situations they find themselves in, with the latest special being sure to continue the tradition (Jeremy is pictured)
During the journey the hosts tackled what is often referred too as the world’s worst road, the RN5.
Jeremy said: ‘The RN5 is known to be the worst road in the world. It’s listed somewhere as that, so it seemed obvious that we should see just how bad it was.’
During the trip Jeremy, Richard and James only covered 139 miles all together, and some days it was only a few miles.
Planning: The prize they are told to find has evaded discovery for centuries, its whereabouts baffling the most brilliant of minds, including that of James Bond creator Ian Fleming
In it together: Jeremy also discussed another ‘funny scene’ which will see Richard suffer a food-related injury while on the tough drive (pictured with James May)
Tough going: The drive is one of the slowest the trio have ever done, with Jeremy saying they would only cover a few hundred yards some days
Jeremy said: ‘We hardly moved at all. There were some days we would drive for 12 hours and only cover a few hundred yards. It was just spectacularly difficult to make any progress at all.’
He also detailed another ‘funny scene’ which will see Richard suffer a food-related injury while on the tough drive.
Jeremy said: ‘He really did burn his b******s with an army ration meal, which was hotter than he expected. That’s a very funny scene.’
The brutality of the trip is far beyond anything they had anticipated, but the search ends, for their battered bodies and cars, in an explosive climax.
The Grand Tour presents: A Massive Hunt will launch Friday 18th December on Amazon Prime Video.
Action packed: In classic The Grand Tour style, a big ending for the show has been hinted with snaps showing explosions on the beach