Clarkson’s Farm star says hiring a bodyguard makes ‘you look a bit twatty’ and draws more attention to celebrities, saying the “smaller the name”, the bigger the entourage
Jeremy Clarkson said he would rather have a pie pushed in his face than hire a bodyguard – because it makes ‘you look a bit twatty’.
The Clarkson’s Farm host said employing a private security team drew more attention to celebrities. He said the smaller the ‘name’, the bigger the ‘entourage’ they tended to bring along. “And I can’t help wondering if that’s what the Z-list celebs actually want,” he said. “Not to be protected, but to be noticed.”
Clarkson, 65, said he was ‘well aware that some people dislike me greatly’ and folk had ‘expressed this displeasure physically over the years’. A woman once pushed a pie into my face and later some young ladies came to my house and threw manure over the wall onto my rose bushes. I never did understand that one,” he said.
“My favourite was a chap I once encountered late at night while walking through Oslo airport. He was coming the other way down a long and virtually deserted corridor and as he drew close he began to beam.
“His face broke into a huge smile and his arms spread wide as he bellowed in a broad Scottish accent: ‘You’re Jeremy Clarkson’. I smiled coyly by way of a reply before he stopped and said loudly: ‘I f****** hate you’.”
Despite such clashes he said he had never felt the need to employ private security guards.
“As you are being escorted through the streets by a team of people who talk to their cuffs and wear stupid sunglasses there’s no getting away from the fact that you do look a bit twatty,” he said.
“Because what are you saying? My former role on some little-watched soap was so important that I may be kidnapped at any moment?’’
When he hosted hit BBC motoring programme Top Gear he said some of the biggest stars had the least protection.
“Katie Price rocked up with what looked like the population of Leeds,” he said.
“Whereas the delightful Patrick Stewart turned up an hour early on his own and because he’d driven himself I assumed he was a car delivery driver. Only when he took off his cap did I realise he was the commander of the Starship Enterprise.
“Andy Garcia, meanwhile, came in a taxi and on his way back to London asked the driver to stop off at a chippy in Guildford. Where he stood in the queue, quite happily, on his own.
“Tom Cruise was also a delight to deal with. Piece of cake. A teddy bear. Same with Lionel Richie. Same with Cameron Diaz and Margot Robbie.
“But the guy whose crummy single had just entered the charts at No 14 would rock up six hours late with a team that demanded all the carpets were turned upside down and that the beech trees in the car park were replaced with limes.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
