James May plans to stop working with 'decrepit' celebrity gossip-loving Jeremy Clarkson

James May says "within the next five years I don't want to be fart-arsing around." Photo / Getty

The Grand Tour is still only halfway through its first series - but "knackered" James May is already making plans to quit the show.

"Fairly soon we will be too old for it," said the 53-year-old, who hosts the Amazon Prime show with fellow former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.

Presenterts Jeremy Clarkson and James May. Photo / Getty

"Within the next five years I don't want to be fart-arsing around."

May admitted that Hammond "is a reasonably fit bloke who looks after himself," but added: "me and Jeremy aren't. Jeremy is particularly decrepit."

In an interview with Radio Times, May spoke candidly about the "gnawing doubts and fears that come at our age," asking, "How long have I got left? 30 years? I'm going to assume it's 10."

Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May all star in Amazon Prime's The Grand Tour. Photo / Getty

The team "had more energy in the old days, because we were younger and less knackered," said May, though he admitted that they had already "become lazy with Top Gear," which they presented together from 2003 until 2014, when Clarkson's assault of a BBC producer led to his departure from the show.

May told the magazine that he has little in common with Clarkson, outside of work:

"We're so different. I don't want Jeremy Clarkson anywhere near my shed or my toolbox or my piano. He's interested in fashionable restaurants and celebrity gossip - I'm not interested in those."

James May and Jeremy Clarkson don't have much in common outside of work. Photo / Getty

The Grand Tour, which has a reported budget of £160 million for three series, has been a critical hit for the online retailer and streaming service.

But the show has also met with controversy:

Clarkson was condemned by a travellers' pressure group for a joke about gypsies in the first episode, while viewers criticised an "unfunny" segment from episode two in which May was seen killing an actor dressed as the Queen.