Latest news with #TheGrandTour
Evening Standard
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
What happens when you stop taking weight loss drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic?
Who is Francis Bourgeois as he is 'announced' to host The Grand Tour? Who is Francis Bourgeois as he is 'announced' to host The Grand Tour?
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Woke BBC's new period drama will tick all PC boxes & have just the right bonnets but here's why everyone will switch off
A NEW book came out this week. It's called The Spider Covenant and it's about a group of sinister businessmen using money the Nazis squirrelled away after World War Two to fund a next- generation AI project which will put Hitler sympathisers in power around the world. 5 5 I'm bound to say, for two reasons, that it's a good read. Number one: It is. And number two: It was written by Brian Klein, who directed every single one of the studio segments in both Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Certainly, it would make an excellent mini series on TV. However, the BBC has decided instead to make a drama about a dreary Victorian woman from some god-awful Jane Austen book that I was forced to study at school. And which put me off reading for ten years. Yup. It's another bloody period drama. Of course it is. Horse and carriage pulls up on some gravel outside a big house. And then nothing of any great importance happens for about 16 hours. However, the producer of this new one, Jane Tranter, says there's a reason why period dramas are usually boring. She says that as soon as you put an actor in clothes from the olden days, they start to walk slowly and talk posh. Really? Michael Elphick didn't talk posh in The Elephant Man. And the only reason they move slowly is because you can't really rush when you're wearing a bustle or a stovepipe hat. There's another issue the BBC always has. They go to immense lengths to make sure the stitching on everyone's bonnet is correct for the time and that the swords are made from period metal. But then in their 17th-century story, they cast people in wheelchairs and people with Mexican accents. BBC releases new trailer for period drama Miss Austen starring Keeley Hawes And there's usually quite a lot of talk about global warming. There is, however, one period drama that got round all of this. Heath Ledger's movie, A Knight's Tale. Chaucer was a dude In that, the actors danced to music from Queen and David Bowie. They wore prog-rock clothes. Chaucer was a dude, and the heroine was played by an ethnically diverse American. 5 It was brilliant. Mainly because behind all the period cleverness, there was a good story. Which you're unlikely to get from a book that sends most readers into a deep sleep by page four. I fear that the BBC can make the characters rush about like Usain Bolt and talk like Jamie Carragher. But it won't make a ha'porth of difference. Unless there's an actual plot we care about, we'll all carry on watching MobLand. GEARS BOXING CLEVER THE headlines this week told us that cars with manual gearboxes will soon become a thing of the past. The figures seem to back this up. Back in 2011, only a quarter of cars sold in the UK were automatics, whereas today it's 80 per cent. As a result, one in every four driving tests taken today is automatic-only. Because why bother getting qualified to drive a car with a clutch pedal and a gear lever, that you have to move about like you're stirring soup, when you're never going to encounter such a thing? Aha. But there's more to this story than meets the eye. Because while a car may have a PRND automatic gear lever, the gearbox itself, in many cases, is actually a manual. Certain Minis fall into this category. So do various VW Golfs. So you could take your test in what drives like an auto and then claim that actually you are qualified to drive a manual. Worth a try because, technically, you'd be right. Reputation of French goes up in smoke I'M rarely shocked these days by a news story but when I heard this week that France has banned smoking in parks, on beaches and even in the street, I nearly fell off my chair. France ditching its love affair with the Disque Bleu? What's next? The Germans ban people from drinking beer? The Americans ban burgers? We are to be banned from going on social media and making jokes? No, wait, hang on . . . KICK UP A STINK SADIQ KHAN, the increasingly thin Mayor of London, has backed calls for a partial decriminal-isation of cannabis. Dear God, no. I've been to various cities in America which have adopted a similarly slack attitude to weed and they smell disgusting. Right now, London's got enough problems. Crime is off the charts, there are boarded-up shops everywhere, the pavements are rammed with what look like refugee camps, and the police do nothing because they're too busy probing a potentially offensive tweet. And I can't imagine any of these things will be helped if the place smells more revolting than a teenage boy's sock. PM NOT A RISK TAKER SIR Starmer is forever telling us that he knows what it's like to work for ten hours a day because that's what his dad did. Yes. But that's like me saying I know what it's like to leave school at 14 and become a butcher's boy. 5 Sure, it's what my dad did but I wasn't there. So what's it like to pedal around the streets of South Yorkshire delivering mince to miners? No idea, I'm afraid. And it gets worse because when you're Prime Minister what you really need to know is not what it's like to work in a factory, but what it's like to run one. Business is what's going to get this country back on its feet. People taking the risk, starting out on their own, making it work, employing someone and then someone else. And then one day passing the business they've built on to their children. Starmer has absolutely no idea what it's like to do that. And neither do any of his Baldricks. Lammy. Rayner. Reeves. None of them. Which is probably why they did a speedy deal with Trump to make British-made cars ten per cent more expensive in America. They claimed they had been extremely clever and got round his new tariffs. Yes, but every other country waited. And then found out this week that Trump wasn't allowed to impose the tariffs in the first place. Honestly, this country is being run by a shower of dingleberries. SO. The struggling high-street giant WH Smith is to change its name to TG Jones. Yup. That'll make all the difference. After all, the only reason I stopped buying magazines and DVDs is because I wanted the shop to sound a bit more Welsh. I guess that's what John Lewis needs to do if it wants to return to profitability. Change its name to Dai Llewellyn.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Grand Tour reboot without Clarkson, Hammond and May has rumoured new line-up
The Grand Tour will continue without Clarkson, May and Hammond after a new reboot of the show was confirmed, and now their replacements are rumoured to have been found. A report in The Sun suggests that the new series will be revamped with a younger cast who are popular on social media, claiming that trainspotter Francis Bourgeois and YouTube petrolheads Thomas Holland and James Engelsman will take over. Former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond left the Prime Video car series after five series in the driving seat as their contracts came to an end. But TV industry magazine Broadcast magazine confirmed in August 2024 that a reboot was in the works after Studio Lambert was awarded a contract to 'develop a fresh version' of the show. Read more: Will you watch The Grand Tour without Clarkson, Hammond and May? Studio Lambert are the production company behind hit reality shows The Traitors, Gogglebox and Squid Game: The Challenge. They are said to have to have won the contract after beating rival pitches from Shine TV – who make MasterChef and The Hunted – and recently founded Orchard Studios. Very few details are known about the new format of The Grand Tour. Hammond, May and Clarkson's special Sand Job was their last run, filmed in Zimbabwe in 2023 and aired on Prime Video in 2024. In May 2025, The Sun reported that a new trio had been signed up that would bring a younger, fresher vibe to the show. The newspaper claimed that TV insiders had revealed the revamped cast would feature Francis Bourgeois, Thomas Holland and James Engelsman in place of Clarkson, Hammond and May. Bourgeois, 24, is best known for his popular trainspotting videos on TikTok and Instagram, where he has interviewed celebrities including Louis Theroux and Tom Daley. Canadian car enthusiast Holland launched his Throttle House YouTube channel in 2015 and three years later was joined by British fan Engelsman after they met in Toronto. Throttle House has racked up 3.2million subscribers, meaning that the potential new cast could bring some healthy viewing figures with them. The trio confirmed that they had left The Grand Tour willingly in 2024 after deciding that their time fronting the show had come to a natural end. Hammond told Yahoo UK: "The key thing on that whole issue, [is] we had decided years ago that we wanted to be in control. Having set off on this incredible adventure that none of us thought would ever come our way, we all wanted to be the ones — and I don't just mean us three, all of us— to decide when and where and how we landed it, and we have done." May told the Radio Times in June last year: "I mean, some people have said we've been cancelled. But really we're getting quite close to the end of our contract, but we didn't really have any particular plans to keep going because we're all really just getting a bit old. It might be time to let someone else have a crack at it." Clarkson, May and Hammond rose to fame on BBC show Top Gear before they left in 2015 and signed a deal with Amazon Prime to host a new car show The Grand Tour instead. Clarkson had been suspended by the BBC that year after he punched Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon in an argument over food while filming on location. Top Gear continued with new hosts, but this year the BBC confirmed it had decided to "rest" the show after recent hit Freddie Flintoff quit following his injury while filming in December 2022. The retired cricket player was involved in a high-speed crash in a three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 which does not contain airbags. The TV star was reportedly left with broken ribs and facial injuries after being airlifted to hospital. Flintoff had hosted the show from 2019, along with Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris. After Clarkson, May and Hammond jumped ship in 2015, it was hosted by TV and radio presenter Chris Evans and Friends star Matt Le Blanc among others. All The Grand Tour series are available to stream on Prime Video.
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Who is Francis Bourgeois and when will the YouTube star present The Grand Tour with Thomas Holland and James Engelsman?
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FRANCIS Bourgeois is an influencer known for his trainspotting videos. The locomotive enthusiast and fashion icon is joining the new cast of Amazon Prime's The Grand Tour. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 3 Francis Bourgeois is known for his adorable Instagram videos Credit: Getty Images 3 Francis and James Englesman will be presenting The Grand Tour Credit: Instagram 3 Thomas Holland will be joining the pair on the show Credit: Instagram A fascination with trains Born on July 9, 2000, in north-west London, Francis had a love of trains from a young age. He revealed in an interview that he would often go to Willesdon Junction train station as a child to watch the trains pass by. Then, he would return home and draw pictures of the vehicles from memory. He explained: 'I was just fixated by these big machines. 'Ever since, I've had a passion for trains, cars, planes.' However, he was bullied terribly at school for his hobby which prompted him to sell his huge collection of train sets. Eventually, he decided to chase his dreams and went on to study engineering at the University of Nottingham. Finding fame The star rocketed to fame in 2021 when he started sharing videos about trains. They featured a distinctive style, with Francis attaching a fish-eye lens to his head. Within months, he went viral and built a fanbase of over 2.5 million followers as of May 2025. James May issues brutal response to working with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond again after Grand Tour stars split Opening up about why he shared his now famous videos, he said: 'I love to show how awesome trains can be as well as trying to make you smile, laugh and just try and bring joy. 'I want to contribute my passion for trains and also engineering to make the railway network a better place for everyone.' The influencer started partnering with iconic fashion brands, including Gucci, which include train imagery in his photoshoots. Joining the Grand Tour Francis will be presenting the brand new series of The Grand Tour with two other famous influencers. He will be joined by Thomas Holland and James Engelsman, who both run the Throttle House channel on YouTube. The trio will be replacing James May, Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson who left the show after a special episode named The Not Very Grand Tour. The BBC have not yet confirmed when the new series will launch.
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Who is Francis Bourgeois and when will the YouTube star present The Grand Tour with Thomas Holland and James Engelsman?
FRANCIS Bourgeois is an influencer known for his trainspotting videos. The locomotive enthusiast and fashion icon is 3 Francis Bourgeois is known for his adorable Instagram videos Credit: Getty Images 3 Francis and James Englesman will be presenting The Grand Tour Credit: Instagram 3 Thomas Holland will be joining the pair on the show Credit: Instagram A fascination with trains Born on July 9, 2000, in north-west London, Francis had a love of He revealed in an interview that he would often go to Willesdon Junction train station as a child to watch the trains pass by. Then, he would return home and draw pictures of the vehicles from memory. He explained: 'I was just fixated by these big machines. Read More on Train News 'Ever since, I've had a passion for trains, cars, planes.' However, he was Eventually, he decided to chase his dreams and went on to study engineering at the University of Nottingham. Finding fame The star rocketed to fame in 2021 when he started sharing videos about Most read in News TV They featured a distinctive style, with Francis attaching a fish-eye lens to his head. Within months, he went viral and built a fanbase of over 2.5 million followers as of May 2025. James May issues brutal response to working with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond again after Grand Tour stars split Opening up about why he shared his now famous videos, he said: 'I love to show how awesome trains can be as well as trying to make you smile, laugh and just try and bring joy. 'I want to contribute my passion for trains and also engineering to make the railway network a better place for everyone.' The influencer started partnering with iconic fashion brands, including Gucci, which include train imagery in his photoshoots. Joining the Grand Tour Francis will be He will be joined by The trio will be replacing The BBC have not yet confirmed when the new series will launch.
