‘Jeremy Clarkson showed his true colours with one-word comment as I tried to park my car’
A woman who saw Jeremy Clarkson burst out into a fit of laughter as she tearfully tried to park says he had a single word comment on her efforts
A journalist says Jeremy Clarkson showed his true colours when he mocked her driving ability. Self-confessed “terrible driver” Marianka Swain says she learnt to drive in London when she was a teenager.
She says the city has the “most impatient motorists in the world”. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Marianka recalls one moment when she was “attempting to parallel park for the seventh time” outside her family home. And while many motorists can find the manoeuvre particularly difficult, she confesses she had the “space the size of a football pitch” to fit her car into.
During the “tearful” moment, she recalls hearing a “shout of laughter” from the street. She writes: “I peered out of the window to see none other than Jeremy Clarkson doubled over in merriment at my pathetic efforts.”
Marianka admits she “wanted to die” as she saw the former Top Gear star standing on the pavement with a raised eyebrow. She felt as if the star wanted to encourage her to “have another rubbish go”.
However, defeated, she says she “slunk down in my seat and begged my driving instructor to take over”. She continued: “This elicited a loud snort from Clarkson and a hearty “Pathetic”. And off he strode.”
Marianka jokes that she hasn’t been able to approach a parking space without hearing the howls of Jeremy laughing since then. However she saw the funny side of the encounter and admits it “probably was hilarious”.
She concluded that her meeting with Jeremy made her sympathise with every guest on Top Gear who found themselves “mercilessly mocked” for their driving ability. Jeremy fronted the original run of Top Gear between 1988 and 2000 before returning for the revival in 2001.
Along with co-stars Richard Hammond and James May, he joined Amazon Prime Video with The Grand Tour in 2016 after being dropped by the BBC following an “unprovoked physical attack” on a producer. In recent years however his career has seen a pivot into farming as he launched Clarkson’s Farm.
The Prime Video series has now run for four series, documenting Jeremy’s attempts at running the 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. Last month Jeremy however revealed some welcome news on his farm.
