The trio worked on both BBC’s Top Gear and Prime Video’s The Grand Tour together for over two decades, forming an iconic trio.

Mr May has now spoken on his relationship with his two former co-stars during a chat with the Daily Mail.

The national newspaper has published the full interview this afternoon (Friday, November 7) and stated that Mr Clarkson and Mr Hammond “aren’t his friends”.

James May.

“It was a job, but I did it for 20 years. It’s shocking, really. Almost a third of my life was spent with those bell***s,” he said.

When asked whether the pair are friends to him or old workmates, he answered: “It’s funny because they were workmates, but they were significant in my life.

When pressed on the friends line, Mr May added: “I think of it in terms of if we’d been at school at the same time, we’d have been in rival gangs.

“There would have been a healthy respect for each other, but we wouldn’t have fitted in each other’s gangs. The three of us are quite different people.”

The three presenters stay in touch, and Mr May revealed that he had seen Mr Hammond recently.

“I saw Hammond three weeks ago, and he seems happy enough,” he said.

“And I’m pleased Clarkson’s farm is doing well because he needed something else. I think we’re all reasonably content. I’m not going to mourn it.”