Jeremy Clarkson: Everything you need to know about his health

Jeremy Clarkson is known for presenting iconic shows like Top Gear and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Clarkson is also famous for his scandalous moments. For instance in 2015, he was removed from Top Gear after punching a producer. In June 2023, The Sun had to ‘print a front-page statement explaining that’ Jeremy Clarkson ‘was found to have discriminated against' Meghan Markle, a royal who has often been targeted by Clarkson and other presenters like Piers Morgan.

His career has been marred with both achievements and controversies, but Clarkson has maintained his position has a powerhouse in British TV through it all and has racked up a huge fan-following.

That being said, over the years Jeremy Clarkson has had to break bad news about his health to fans multiple times. Indeed, things have not been looking good for Jeremy Clarkson, health-wise.

Jeremy Clarkson reveals his heart operation: October 2024

Most recently, Clarkson revealed, in his TheSunday Times column on 20 October, a series of events that led to him getting an operation done on his heart. While the TV presenter was on vacation, he struggled to swim, after which he was also having trouble walking up the stairs. In the days that followed, and upon his return to the UK he felt ‘clammy’, a tightness in his chest, and pins and needles in his left arm. All symptoms that had him worried enough to go to the hospital.

After getting checked up, it was revealed to him that he was not having a heart attack but his arteries were blocked—but he was not in the clear either. In fact, Clarkson’s doctors told him that a fatal heart attack could have been imminent. They said that he was ‘maybe’ days away from losing his life altogether. Clarkson explained:

It seems that of the arteries feeding my heart with nourishing blood, one was completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way.

In order to avoid any life-ending consequences, the doctors decided to keep his arteries open using a stent (a small tube). He said of the procedure:

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 may have narrowly avoided death, but his life will no longer be the same. He said that he will not be able to do any ‘manual labour’ for the coming years. He said:

I just have to not do any manual labour or dishwasher emptying for the next four years. At least I think that’s what the doctor said.

Clarkson has been very open about his deteriorating health, once even admitting that he doesn’t have a long time left. He told The Guardian in April:

I don’t have long. I’ve probably only got what, 70,000 hours left, maybe?

Jeremy Clarkson's blocked arteries is not the only problem he has been facing. In November 2023, the presenter, with a multimillion-pound net worth, told The Sunday Times that he is also at risk of dementia.

Jeremy Clarkson reveals dementia risk: November 2023

In his interview, Clarkson revealed that he is at a ‘double risk’ of dementia. This followed the fact that his doctors told him that he needed to use hearing aids. Clarkson explained:

This has been going on for 12 years and, being a tolerant sort of guy, I’ve coped.

He added:

But I was told after my most recent medical that hearing loss will double the chance of me catching dementia.

Clarkson also said that he had been experiencing ‘blanks in conversation’.

My brain is having to use a huge amount of computing power trying to fill in the bits of speech it hasn’t been able to hear.

Jeremy Clarkson gets cyst removed: October 2023

In January 2024, his health issues were once again in the spotlight whenThe Sun appeared to speak to their columnist about them. In that conversation, the presenter revealed something he kept hidden for months. It appears that his doctors found a 5cm cyst in his back.

He explained he decided to get the cyst out of his back in October 2023 while he was at a wellness farm at the initiative of his partner, Lisa Hogan. He explained:

Lisa took me to a health farm and, well, it was so miserable there that I thought, ‘I’ve got to have this cyst taken out at some point, I may as well go now'

In true Jeremy Clarkson style, he continued,

I checked out of the whole place and checked into hospital, because it was more fun having an operation than eating juniper berries all day long. As I lay under the surgeon’s knife, I thought ‘this is preferable’.

The presenter continued to explain that after the operation he lost a 'stone in weight'. He also reassured his fan and confirmed the cyst wasn't anything cancerous.

It was never going to be cancerous though — I wasn’t in the mood

Read more:

⋙ Fiona Phillips: The tragic impact Alzheimer's had on her life years before she was officially diagnosed

⋙ This common medicine could have lasting impact on your brain

⋙ This is what having brain fog says about your health

Sources:

Mail Online: Jeremy Clarkson shares health update after revealing he is at 'double risk' of getting dementia

The Guardian: Jeremy Clarkson’s Sun article on Meghan was sexist, says press regulator

Express: Jeremy Clarkson breaks silence on hidden health scare after sudden weight loss and surgery

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

The Sun: Jeremy Clarkson rushed for heart surgery after sudden health deterioration