Jeremy Clarkson 'devastated' as Diddly Squat farm struck by TB

Daily Record

a day ago

Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm has been rocked by the 'bad news'
Jeremy Clarkson has announced his Diddly Squat Farm has been struck by a bout of TB. Staff at the Oxfordshire farm are 'devastated' by the 'bad news' the former Top Gear host said on X today. Clarkson, 65, said: 'Bad news from Diddly Squat. We've gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated.
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'The offending animal is pregnant with twins.'
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The Amazon Prime star then clarified it's Bovine TB that has been detected, and he further tweeted: 'I should clear this up really. It's bovine TB that we have. It doesn't affect people, just our poor cows.'
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One X follower questioned the condition of Clarkson's prize-winning Aberdeen Angus bull, Endgame, and the presenter replied: 'His test was 'inconclusive'. I couldn't bear it if we lost him.'
Bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle can often mean infected animals are destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease.
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Last year Clarkson was visited by officers from Thames Valley Police over claims by activists that he'd been blocking setts on his estate, which is illegal. He later said he'd told police he shot the badgers instead so had no need to block the setts.
He revealed at the time: "Mercifully, however, I had the perfect excuse: "I've shot all the badgers on the farm so why would I want to fill in their setts? And yes, before you ask, it was all legal."
Clarkson has spoken out about the risk of TB outbreaks on the farm in the past and in one episode of Clarkson's Farm, he ranted about 'b*****d' badgers, which he found impossible to prevent.
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He said: 'We thought, 'What do we do?' because if you want to make a popular show you have to say, 'Oh, look at the little cuddly-wuddly badgers.' But I thought: no, it's a farming show, and you'd lose your core audience, the farmers, if you went around, saying, 'Look at these sweet little animals'.
"So, I actually called them b*****ds and showed people what they actually do. It's truthful.
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"These are not nice animals. Do not be fooled by Brian May. This is what badgers do. This is how much heartache they're causing to people who've worked for generations to build up a farm that's been wiped out by badgers."
Kaleb Cooper, Clarkson's co-star on the Amazon Prime show, also addressed the disease as he revealed three of his own 21 dairy cows had contracted bovine TB. Visibly emotional, he said on Instagram in 2023: "Now today's a bit stressful. Today I've just found out the place where I have my dairy cows – the 21 cows that I bought – has got three reactors to TB.
"I don't really know how to describe the emotion. I know I mean it's not all my cows and I don't know how he [the other owner] feels – but it's hard."
An episode in season two focused on the presence of badgers and the threat they posed to cows due to carrying the bacteria that causes TB.