He's quirky, he's pedantic, he's slow, and we'd have him no other way. James May might seem like the least noteworthy of the three original hosts of Top Gear; in his own words, he's "Just a bloke." But fans of his uniquely comedic yet informed broadcasting style just can't get enough of him, whether he's tooling around in a Dacia Sandero or making a bit of a**e of himself whilst cooking for Amazon prime for his new show "Oh Cook." May's had quite a number of twists and turns in his life before landing the job that would ultimately make him an immortal name to petrolheads everywhere.
Join us as we take a deep dive into the life of Top Gear and Grand Tour's most eccentric presenter, and how a prior history of making jokes a bit too much almost saw his premature exit from automotive journalism.
Just A Man Living His Boyhood Dreams
James May was born on the 16th of January, 1963. The son of James, an aluminum foundry manager, and Kathleen, a homemaker. “I moved all over Britain. Homelife was very happy. We all had food and shoes,” he's been quoted saying. As a child, May was surrounded by a plethora of children's toys that would reinforce his fascination with all things engineering-related as a young man. May's said that his boyhood dream was to become a fighter pilot, a dream born out of his love of aviation.
Initially, there were few signs that James May's life would turn out anything like the way it actually unfolded. May studied music at Pendle College, a constituent institution of the larger Lancaster University, where he honed his skills as a piano player, a hobby he still regularly indulges in. In May's own admission, he's had a tendency to get himself fired from many jobs he's held over the years, including stints with the Civil Service and a Volvo dealership. This is a trend that would follow him into the world of automotive journalism.
Fired From Autocar For A Cheeky Prank
May's first foray into the world of journalism was a stint as a sub-editor at the Engineer, a magazine founded in 1856 covering developments in news in technology and engineering. From there, he landed a job in a similar position at Autocar magazine, the oldest motoring publication in the world. His time with the company was cut short in 1992 when a prank pulled by May went right over the heads of his editors and made it onto the final publication. May was tasked with finishing the layout for Autocar's end of the year "Road Test Yearbook" publication.
Each review feature article was started with a large red letter in the left-hand corner. When each page was laid out in numerical order. May's tedious task was to arrange the red letters in the correct format. When each page was laid end to end in numerical order, these red letters revealed a secret message, "Do you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the a*se". Hilariously, Autocar Magazine was completely oblivious to May's bout of journalistic tomfoolery until readers began calling in asking if cracking the secret code meant winning some sort of prize.
Working His Way Up To The Original Top Gear
May's first experience in broadcast television actually came while working briefly for Top Gear's rival show, "Driven" on Channel 4, where May bumped shoulders with Jason Plato, who'd go on to host Fifth Gear, and Mike Brewer of Wheeler Dealers fame. He'd meet future best frienemy, Jeremy Clarkson, soon afterward in 1999 when he was brought on to co-present a handful of episodes of the original format of Top Gear. Here he'd review classics like the Jaguar S-Type and the Mazda MX-5. James May was dismissed from his job at original Top Gear soon afterward.
In 2003, May got his second chance at a revitalized Top Gear. In an interview with the JOE Youtube channel, Top Gear co-star Jeremy Clarkson explained how James was Clarkson's first choice for the spot of the third Top Gear presenter after season one presenter Jason Dawe was dismissed supposedly for not fitting the over the top image the new Top Gear was set to take. Clarkson said, probably exaggeratingly, that he found May "Rambling on the street corner at passers-by" when he asked him to return to Top Gear. True or not, combining May's reserved dry with Clarkson's bombast and Richard Hammond's willingness to put his life on the line made for chemistry that can never be replicated and has only been copied ever since.
As of 2021, May's lent his voice to everything from all of Top Gear and Grand Tour to full documentaries about technology, food, and wine (with best buddy Oz Clarke), retro toys, and of course, cars. His most recent show "Oh, Cook" proves his whit is not only as sharp as ever, but just as adept at making cooking entertaining as he is at driving cars.
Sources: Autocar, Youtube.com/JOE