I know, I know. I got as excited as you did. Probably even more so, because I like clicks, and Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s new Amazon program The Grand Tour brings in that sweet sweet traffic. But as jazzed as we all are for the show, this clip making the rounds is not from that.
I’ve fielded a ton of emails and texts since the weekend thanks to this video, entitled “Hammond, Clarkson and May found a new racing driver.”
It’s Ben Collins, the former Stig! He’s been living in squalor since he left Top Gear, but he can still hustle.
Naturally, everyone thought this was a clip from The Grand Tour. It was published on Oct. 1 and has pulled in more than 1 million views. And it comes from a channel called “Richard Hammond,” which sounds official but clearly isn’t when you click around a bit. Plus, the cars all seem new enough to be convincing.
And hey, Ben Collins, the Stig, on The Grand Tour! Who can say no to that?
Unfortunately, the video’s about as legit as that Reliant Robin crash. It’s not from Amazon at all, but a clip from one of the trio’s live shows. That’s all. You can see how they showed it live here.
So yeah, not real. But the fact that it can garner so many views in just a few days is proof of how badly the world needs to see The Grand Tour. I hope it can live up to all that hype.
Maybe Ben can help? Just throwing that out there.