James May threatens to leave Top Gear!

I doubt that Hamster gets ?1million. Remember the dodge Charger he couldn't buy without selling his old 911 left hand drive, and all the openings he did to gather more money? Although I do believe it's realistic for Jezza (FORD GT, Gallardo spyder, SL65, SLK55...)
 
He's been there for one more season, you must remember. :)
 
James better hurry up if he's going to renegogiate!
BBC pay deal investigation
Pay deals are always a touchy subject in a fandom. It's prehaps best to remember that they often have less to do with the value of a presenter and more to do with the skill of his/her agent. Richard has the same agent as Sharon Osborne and Elton John. Interestingly he also has the same agent as Jeremy Clarkson. One thing I know for sure though is that regardless of favourite, the true success of the show is based on the chemistry of the three presenters. If any one of them were to leave the show would suffer greatly for it. People often talk of 'true ensemble' casts in TV drama. I think what you have in Top Gear is the perfect example of a true ensemble presenting team.
 
I get the impression that May isn't the kind of person who would threaten to leave over anything, especially money.

He really does add a lot to the show. I love it when the child-like personalities of Richard and Jeremy clash with the more grown-up May. He adds a different perspective to things which makes the show even better. I just wouldn't enjoy the show anymore if he left.:(

Don't forget that he also learned to fly which no doubt took a lot of his money(believe me, I know). That's probably why he doesn't have as flashy a car as the other two.
 
yeah, a pilot's license is an expensive one to get. though, no one really knows when he got the license, it could be a very old one financed from elsewhere.

and may is definitely a huge deal of the top gear experience. wouldn't be too excited either if he for some reason left.

ps. kajun, hypnotoad has nothing on psyduck
 
yeah, a pilot's license is an expensive one to get. though, no one really knows when he got the license, it could be a very old one financed from elsewhere.

and may is definitely a huge deal of the top gear experience. wouldn't be too excited either if he for some reason left.

ps. kajun, hypnotoad has nothing on psyduck

hypnotoad fuckin rules. no question. psyduck don't have shit on him.
 
I doubt that Hamster gets ?1million. Remember the dodge Charger he couldn't buy without selling his old 911 left hand drive, and all the openings he did to gather more money? Although I do believe it's realistic for Jezza (FORD GT, Gallardo spyder, SL65, SLK55...)


i think i'm right in saying Jezza came from a pretty well off family, was well educated, and had a good amount of money before Top Gear even started,

although i do think it probably coincides with him starting his own DVDs, as i remember he drove regular cars like Sciroccos and GTV-6s before the reformatted Top Gear started up

I personally think James is a better "presenter" than Richard (especially when Richards has to be by himself), but you need Richard to fill in as the angry little man with tons of opinions, they all work together brilliantly, Richards genius is only seems to trigger when he has somebody to yell at :p

and if their IS actually a pay difference id suprised if it wasn't simply James is the new guy as everybody has already stated
 
mmmmmmmmmm GTV6............mmmmmmmmmmmm..........mmmmmmmmmmm........mmmmm terrible gear linkage and scars on my hands from working on one today at a work....

I hope James will do the right thing.....won't you James? :) (Whatever is rite by him)
 
I doubt that Hamster gets ?1million. Remember the dodge Charger he couldn't buy without selling his old 911 left hand drive, and all the openings he did to gather more money? Although I do believe it's realistic for Jezza (FORD GT, Gallardo spyder, SL65, SLK55...)

i dont think he has the GT anymore, sold to make way for the lambo

in this months TG mag he quotes james as saying " you cant preach about super cars without having one yourself " since he blames james for making him purchase the lambo

im not sure if he still has his SL55 AMG either, i think that might of got sold too since he had bought a SLK 55 AMG as well
 
i think they've all got some serious amounts of money, however i can understand may wanting equal pay, as he is an important part of the show, his like the smart realist on the show.. Good ol' Captain Slow!
 
I doubt that Hamster gets ?1million. Remember the dodge Charger he couldn't buy without selling his old 911 left hand drive, and all the openings he did to gather more money? Although I do believe it's realistic for Jezza (FORD GT, Gallardo spyder, SL65, SLK55...)

I seriously doubt "he couldn't afford it" part of the reason top gear is popular is because it can appeal to all sorts of demographics, by stating "he couldn't afford it" it makes him look like an ordinary man rather than some pompos jerk who doesn't give two shits.
 
I seriously doubt "he couldn't afford it" part of the reason top gear is popular is because it can appeal to all sorts of demographics, by stating "he couldn't afford it" it makes him look like an ordinary man rather than some pompos jerk who doesn't give two shits.


You suggest that Hammond and the production team would have make this stuff up? I can see the point of your comment, it's kind of fun to see him having money issues like everyone else when it comes to cars, but I still think that all the papers Clarkson showed about Hamster opening poor places were quite realistic. It didn't seem to be some fake ones.
 
If you take the time to read some of Richard's old Mirror columns, you'll learn that when he started on TG he was quite literally broke, with a pregnant wife to boot. two small children cost a fortune to raise. Add to that his huge house, dogs, horses, cars and his tendency to buy any beat-up old car he sees and try to restore it, and you know where his pay goes. And I do believe that contract he signed with the BBC was that he would get a million if he ever left the BBC ("golden handshake" as we call it in Holland).

As for Jeremy: he has his mother's Paddington Bear estate plus a nose for business. And if I recall correctly, he's not that well-educated. Dropped out at 16 to start something with cars with a friend. Not sure if he went back after.

I must say I don't know much about James though. But he deserves a heck of a lot more than 40K a year<_<
 
Just gave me a thought, if Jezza makes ?1mil a'year, that equates to $1.95 mil.

If I am not completely wrong, George W. Bush gets a salary of two million US Dollars.

Strange.
 
Just gave me a thought, if Jezza makes ?1mil a'year, that equates to $1.95 mil.

If I am not completely wrong, George W. Bush gets a salary of two million US Dollars.

Strange.

Yes it's true the president's salary isn't much relatively speaking. BUT!, you must realize that the president gets everything for free. Not to mention whatever under the table deals and kickbacks you can bet he recieves.
 
Just gave me a thought, if Jezza makes ?1mil a'year, that equates to $1.95 mil.

If I am not completely wrong, George W. Bush gets a salary of two million US Dollars.

Strange.

The president of the USA salary is $400K as of 2000, up from $200k.
 
Top