Jeremy Clarkson expands Diddly Squat with a herd of goats in latest business venture
He previously joked that he was a “money cow” for Diddly Squat thanks to his lucrative salary as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
And Jeremy Clarkson showed off his latest furry additions to the Cotswold farm in a new business venture – just days after he denied he was axed as the host of the ITV quiz show.
The 62-year-old TV star announced on Instagram on Friday that he’s now the proud owner of a herd of goats who have taken up residence in what was once the lamb barn.
Jeremy shared a photo of his friend Lisa snuggling with one, while the amazon was also photographed on set filming the action.
He also uploaded a photo of his farmhand Kaleb Cooper, 24, dressed from head to toe in scrubs with a gas mask as he stood next to a hovercraft.
Jeremy wrote, “A fun day on the farm,” and Kaleb commented, “I’m in love with this hovercraft!! So much fun’.
The Grand Tour star has slowly expanded his farm animals, after a tough first year with sheep, Jeremy decided to get cattle and more chickens for his restaurant – which has now closed – and later some pigs.
Clarkson’s Farm broke Amazon video viewing records after its release late last month.
The second season premiere of the farming show was watched by a staggering 4.3 million viewers.
Despite his tremendous success, Jeremy has been the center of headlines this week about his future on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Jeremy denied he was the presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? after ITV previously confirmed there were “no further engagements” with the presenter.
It was previously reported that Clarkson had been fired from the network after his highly controversial newspaper column about Meghan Markle, and betting companies are already eyeing celebrities like Warwick Davis to replace him.
More than 10 television personalities are currently in the running for the chair, according to the latest odds from William Hill.
But Clarkson took to Twitter on Wednesday night to deny the claims, writing, “I was not fired as a host on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”
The former Top Gear presenter sparked backlash after fantasizing in a newspaper column about the Duchess of Sussex being paraded naked through the streets while people pelted her with “excrement”, alluding to a public shame scene of the fantasy TV series Game of Throne.
It prompted press watchdog IPSO to investigate the column and sparked speculation that Clarkson’s hit shows had been dropped on Amazon Prime after reportedly leaving the streaming service’s bosses “red-hot”.
His fans then feared he would be “cancelled” after ITV failed to confirm if he would continue to present Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
ITV boss Carolyn McCall – who Piers Morgan previously claimed forced him out of Good Morning Britain – appeared to confirm Clarkson will not continue his post beyond the next series, which has already been picked up.
“We have a contract. We are contractually obliged to do so [season]so we’re going to do that,” Ms McCall told Variety magazine, adding, “And then we don’t have any future commitments.”
Speaking about Clarkson’s column about Meghan, she added: “We’re not in any way supporting that… There’s no room for that on ITV.”
An ITV spokesman told MailOnline today: “As we have said, ITV has another series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contractually commissioned (which is now recorded), and beyond that currently no further commissioning obligations.’
But the network later issued a revised statement, which said: “As we have been saying for several weeks, ITV is contracted to another series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (which has now been recorded.)
‘Furthermore, there are currently no other go-live commitments, as is typical with such shows where we make go-live decisions on a series-by-series basis.
“Therefore, for the avoidance of doubt, neither Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? nor Jeremy Clarkson were cancelled.
Clarkson tweeted shortly afterwards: “So much nice news on today’s reports. But relax. Lisa and I have not broken up and I have not been fired from hosting Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”