Jeremy Clarkson fans erupt with grief over Top Gear icon's 'shocking' and 'terrible' cancer diagnosis

Jeremy Clarkson received an outpouring of grief from fans after revealing he has been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of cancer.

The former Top Gear host shared the news in the final two episodes of the fifth season of Clarkson's Farm, which were released on Amazon Prime Video overnight. 

As word of his illness spread online, devastated fans shared their reactions, with one writing on X: 'Shocking last two episodes. Terribly sad.'

'Praying for Jeremy and family,' another chimed in, as a third wrote that the development was 'Very sad. Jeremy is the man!'

'This is terrible. I love Clarkson,' an admirer posted with a heart emoji, while another wrote that the presenter is 'really young. Hope and pray it goes well.'

Viewers shared messages like: 'Stay strong Jeremy, you will beat this C of a thing,' and: 'Heart broken and speechless. We can't lose Jeremy!!'

'Ooooh no this is so sad,' one X user wrote, observing that Clarkson had reached 'the time that one has to enjoy his retirement now the cancer comes up.'

The same X user added: 'Always wondering if all we go through to earn money is worth coz after attaining it then bigger health challenges come in.'

Fans posted reassurances like: 'We’ve been with you for 20+ years. We’ll be with you for 20 more,' as well as: 'Sending you so much love, strength and positive vibes. F*** Cancer, You’ve got this.'

Another viewer wrung a bit of humor from the situation, asking Grok: 'what are the chances Jeremy Clarkson gets canonized as the patron saint of farmers?'

'Get well Jeremy. I cried tonight at the Monty Python closing song,' an audience member confessed. 'The contrast between your beautiful farm, beautiful people and a reminder that Time is a finite ressource. It made me think of my life, nature, my family, my own time. Get well because I want the story to continue.'

Another wrote encouragingly: 'Being on a farm, with animals, nature, season rhythms, and the people you love, when treatment allows, is a great healer.' 

The latest two episodes of Clarkson's Farm saw the visibly emotional host relay the news to his shaken co-stars Charlie and Kaleb Cooper, who run his Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds with him.

On the show the trio were talking about their plans for the upcoming harvest when the broadcaster dropped the bombshell news on them. 

In the scene, Clarkson leans back into his chair and, while struggling to keep his composure, tells the shell-shocked pair: 'I've got cancer.'

A disbelieving Kaleb quickly says back: 'No, you haven't. Where?' to which Clarkson says: 'Where it is of no concern of anybody. I've known since May.'

The father-of-three goes on to reveal he has been diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of cancer and will have to take time off during the harvest.

He says: 'I had a medical, you remember back in May. I disappeared off the other week and I had a biopsy and it is cancer and it's aggressive, but it's really early so the treatment will be, you know.

'I was praying we could get the harvest done and then I could go and get some treatment but it's going to be slap bang in the middle.'

Meanwhile, a tearful Kaleb throws his support behind him, saying: 'Look after yourself, you go and do… if you need anything just ring.'

Clarkson says he needs an operation and as a result his body will be 'out of action for a little while', adding that he 'wasn't thrilled' at the prospect.

In a later scene speaking with his girlfriend Lisa Hogan, Kaleb, Charlie and Gerald, Clarkson says: 'So we started the year and I had coronary heart disease and ended it with me with cancer.

'We can dwell as much as we like on all the bad things that have happened on the farm but I think it is better now at the end of the year to focus on things that have happened that are good.'

When asked by Kaleb when they will know if the treatments have worked on the cancer, he replies: 'I don't know, I've got a blood test today, there'll be a blood test and then we'll know.

'Not for another few weeks. Come on cheer up, it probably did work.'

However, the show then moves on to show Clarkson in a hospital bed, where he reveals it hasn't gone completely to plan.

He says: 'Some of the treatment has gone awry, let's say, I'm going to be here for a little while. I'm nil by mouth, I don't know what's going to happen.

'What I wanted to say was if this is all successful I'll see you for season six and if it isn't I won't. Take care everyone.'

Clarkson had hinted beforehand that not all was well, posting a clip on his Instagram yesterday warning viewers that the upcoming episodes would be 'difficult' to watch.

He said: 'Sombre news, Clarkson's Farm. Ordinarily we try to keep the show bucolic and charming and cheerful.

'But the final two episodes which drop in the middle of the night tonight are none of those things really. 

'They're a difficult watch. They're really, really difficult.'

Meanwhile, in a press release ahead of the first episodes of the fifth season, Prime Video ominously warned: 'In the climactic episodes, things turn dark as bad luck strikes from every direction, causing massive upset and tension in every way possible.'

However, Clarkson has kept busy since the show was filmed, with production currently underway for the new series of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, which he hosts, while a sixth season of Clarkson's Farm has been ordered by Prime Video.

It comes after a difficult couple of years for the broadcaster, who was rushed to hospital in 2024 after suffering from chest pains.

While on the ward, doctors discovered one of his arteries was 'completely blocked' with the presenter later saying he had been 'days from death'. 

Fortunately surgeons were able to resolve the issue by inserting a stent - a tiny, expandable mesh tube that is placed in narrow or blocked coronary arteries to restore and aid the flow of blood.

When he returned to work after that health scare in one of the early episodes of the fifth series, Clarkson told Kaleb: 'I'm back and not dead. The grim reaper will have to wait. It was f***ing close, though.'

The former Top Gear host revealed he first felt unwell in 2024 following a swim in the Indian Ocean while on holiday.

He explained that 'it wasn’t far, maybe the length of two swimming pools. But when I finally reached the beach, there was more water in my lungs than there is in Lake Superior, and I was mostly dead.'

Clarkson returned to Britain and a 'sudden deterioration began to gather pace' with him feeling 'clammy', 'tightness in my chest', and 'pins and needles in my left arm'

This led him to being admitted to hospital where a heart attack was ruled out after he had an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests and X-rays.

Following the life-saving surgery, he was warned by doctors that he must make major changes to his lifestyle.

Since it was first released on Amazon Prime in 2021, Clarkson's Farm has become a huge hit and gone on to have four successful series.

Series five was announced back in December 2024, followed by filming last year and wrapping up in February 2026.