While watching the hit show Clarkson’s Farm, I always pondered what life working with Jeremy Clarkson, Lisa Hogan and their plucky farmhand Kaleb Cooper on the farm would be like. Are things quite as disastrous as the show makes out? Are the shop goodies as tasty as they look? And are the piglets really that adorable?
So when I was invited to visit Diddly Squart Farm for the release of season 3, I couldn’t resist. Here’s how I found a day on Clarkson’s Farm…
Enjoying the lap of luxury so close to Jeremy’s farm, was the reality show's well-documented lack of glamour all a bit of a set-up for the cameras? Or was Jeremy enjoying popping to Soho Farmhouse for a massage while pretending to drive a tractor for the cameras? There was only one way to find out!
Upon arriving at the farm, I quickly realised that Clarkson’s farm was a full-on venture. The first person I spotted was Lisa, Jeremy’s partner, who was hosting a tasting session of all of the treats sourced either from the farm itself or the surrounding areas in the little farm shop, that she runs daily.
Snacking on beef jerky, chutney, whiskey and other treats available in the shop - and now on Amazon Fresh - she said: “Life has become a lot of frenetic and a lot busier so there is never nothing to do. It’s just always busy, it’s just more natural because it’s seasoned. You know what to expect. The animals are born, and you know what’s going to happen, it’s just gotten a lot busier!”
She added: “I’ve always been a land girl. Growing up, I was always out and about, had a horse, and loved being outside. It’s not unusual, but I do like a city. Not too far from London, but I do miss walking on pavements!”
After filling up on goodies, I settled down on a hay bale ready for a Q&A with Jeremy and Kaleb. The pair arrived in full farmer gear, having clearly spent the morning getting down to the business of the farm.
The pair speak passionately about their day-to-day lives on the farm, covering everything from the cost of ploughing a field to Kaleb’s cheerful reaction to becoming a worldwide celebrity (“I spend 18 hours in a tractor on my own. I just don't talk to anybody. It's amazing”), and it was evident that Jeremy has become slightly more seasoned with farm life.
The pair were particularly excited to discuss a competition between them in season 3 where they see who can make more money by either farming the fields or trying to make profit from the previously unfarmable land - and their love for their work, knowledge of their different projects and annoyance at the increasing financial risk that farmers face makes it clearly that we were interrupting a very normal day of hard work for them.
Jeremy explained: “While I love the trailer for season three, it does slightly give the impression of becoming hobby farming. Kaleb’s pathological that we’re not like, ‘Let’s look at this little lamb eat this fresh straw,’ and, ‘Look at these little hens, aren't they pretty?’
“He's very keen that we show farming, proper farming and we do show proper farming. Don't be fooled into thinking that because the trailer shows me hoovering blackberries it’s not. If you look around it's a farm, it’s not a petting zoo.”
However, with Jeremy’s Lamborghini tractor parked up with a little trailer ready to transport us journalists down to the fields, to the little row of ‘Pigloos’ packed with playful litters of adorable piglets that feature heavily in season three, it does inevitably feel a little bit like being on a film set - and to be honest, it’s little wonder that fans of the show have flocked to see the real thing for themselves.
And why not? I feel like I learned a lot at the farm, and if a TV show can spark a genuine interest in people about the farming industry, meat production and where our bacon sandwiches are coming from, that can only be a good thing, right? Especially when there are piglets to meet!
