Jeremy Clarkson was ‘maybe days away’ from fatal heart attack

Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, has revealed he needed urgent surgery on his heart after a 'sudden deterioration' in his health. Photo / Getty Images

The former Top Gear presenter has blocked arteries drained after “sudden deterioration” in his health on holiday.

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he underwent a heart procedure after a “sudden deterioration” in his health.

The Grand Tour presenter has said that he began having health complaints while on holiday, and felt a tingling in his arm on his return to the UK.

Clarkson, 64, had to have his blocked arteries drained to avoid an impending heart attack.

The former Top Gear presenter said that he sought treatment at hospital after thinking of former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who suffered a fatal heart attack in North Macedonia on October 12.

Writing in his Sunday Times column, he said that after beginning to feel weak on holiday the “sudden deterioration began to gather pace”.

While working on his Cotswolds farm - the subject of his Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm - he became “clammy” and felt “a tightness in my chest”, before beginning to sense “pins and needles” in his left arm.

Jeremy Clarkson on his Instagram after revealing he had surgery to unclog his arteries. Photo / Instagram @jeremyclarkson1

Thinking of the recent death of Salmond, he went to hospital where it was established that he was not having a heart attack, but a scan revealed that his arteries were blocked or nearly blocked.

Clarkson has said that a senior doctor told him that a potentially fatal heart attack was “maybe” days away, and took action to keep the arteries open using a stent.

The presenter, who recently bought a pub for a planned new series of Clarkson’s Farm, said of the experience: “It took two hours and at one point it felt like he’d put a Hoover pipe up my arm, along with a pile driver, and was busy inside my heart with a B&Q chisel and hammer gift set. It wasn’t especially painful. Just odd.”

Clarkson suffered a health scare in 2017 which led the presenter to quit smoking after being a heavy smoker for more than 40 years.

He had been on holiday in Spain when he was diagnosed with pneumonia, and doctors noticed how much his lungs had deteriorated due to the effects of smoking.

However, the nicotine gum he replaced cigarettes with was found in 2023 to have played a part in increasing his blood pressure.

Speaking at the time, he said: “Six years ago I bit the bullet and replaced my 40-a-day habit with sheet after sheet of full-strength nicotine gum.

“And this week a doctor said it’s causing a worrying rise in my blood pressure and that if I don’t pack it in soon, I will suffer from an agonising and premature death.”