Category Entertainment News

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson was visibly emotional as he issued a touching tribute to an “incredible” man as he reflected on his Top Gear days with producer Andy Wilman

View 3 Images

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has shared an emotional video in honour of his longtime pal he branded “a television genius.”

The Clarkson’s Farm star took to Instagram this evening to reflect on his Top Gear days. The BBC’s hit motoring series Top Gear on our screens from 2002 until 2015, and saw Clarkson alongside Richard Hammond and James May discuss all things cars.

Recounting the early days, Jeremy paid tribute to the producer Andy Wilman, who is lovingly dubbed by fans as “the fourth member.” In an emotional video Jeremy appeared to be holding back the tears as he shared: “I just want to talk, if I may for a moment, about Top Gear.

View 3 Images

READ MORE: Waterloo Road star reveals dad has taken his own life in heartbreaking post

READ MORE: The Wanted’s Siva opens up on new fears in wake of tragic pal Tom Parker’s death

“It started out as a regional programme about cars and became, in quite short order, the most successful, most watched show in the world, every week, 350 million people tuned in.” The star continued: “You talk to people today in their 20s and 30s who describe it as the sort of Sunday night wallpaper of their childhood, a very important show, actually, it really was.”

Honouring his pal, Jeremy said: “The man responsible for it is an incredible success, a man called Andy Wilman, he was there right at the beginning when he had to pay audience members out of his own pocket a fiver to stay to the bitter end because they were so bored.

“He was there when we ended it in Zimbabwe, he was the producer, he was the editor, he had to deal with James, Richard and I.

“He had to deal with Ofcom, he had to deal with the BBC, he just ran the whole thing and then of course he was there when the frakka happened and then he had to start all over again in a broom cupboard with oen assistant and build it all up again from scratch and now of course, he’s busy editing the farm show.”

The TV star praised Andy as “a television genius,” as he plugged the presenter’s new book called Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure. Jeremy shared: “It’s a fantastic book, it really is, I’m just overflowing with joy that he’s put it all on paper. So here’s a suggestion: after you’ve read my new book, The Farmer’s Dog, do get this. It really is worth your while.”

View 3 Images

The man himself, Andy Wilman, replied in the comments saying: “I do NOT deserve that much praise, (mind you I’ll take a bit of it.)You were the one responsible for making that show a success and everyone who worked on it will say the same. That aside, we are entering the Yuletide gifting period, and the book is available in all good bookshops.”

Strictly’s Thomas Skinner commented: “I love you Mr. Clarkson and I love you Mr. Wilman. You are absolute legends that made my Sunday evenings the absolute governor when I was younger. I love cars because of Top Gear. I’ve bought cars because of what I’ve seen on TopGear. Best TV show of all time in my opinion. Bosh.”

This post was also inundated with support from Top Gear fans who praised the presenter for his work on the motoring series. One wrote: “It was three blokes doing what blokes do. We all felt like we knew you and were all apart of your circle. Thank you for the memories!!!!”

Another fan wrote: “The best show ever! You guys literally created the playbook for the whole automotive storytelling industry.”

The man formally known as Prince Andrew has been dealt another huge blow and will now have to bow to his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, according to an expert

View 4 Images

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor now faces a major change with his daughters. The man formally known as Prince Andrew is currently eighth in line to the British throne, despite being stripped of all his royal titles.

Earlier today, it emerged that the King had officially stripped the man of his Royal Highness status and his Prince status, which he was born with. Charles, Andrew’s older brother, made the historic move via Letters Patent. It comes after Andrew has been engulfed in a scandal due to his links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

He issued a Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm – a legal document authorised by the monarch. It was published in The Gazette, the UK’s official public record, by the Crown Office and shows that Andrew is no longer entitled to be a prince or hold the style ‘Royal Highness’.

View 4 Images

The entry, published on Wednesday, read: “THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of ‘Royal Highness’ and the titular dignity of ‘Prince’.”

Now, a royal biographer, Robert Hardman, author of Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, has shed light on how Andrew will now have to treat his family. When asked whether he will now have to bow to his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, he claimed: “Yes, he probably will.”

He added that Andrew is allegedly unlikely to bow “happily” and is most likely dreading the moment that he will be publicly addressed as simply Andrew, without his Prince title. Since he is no longer a prince or duke, protocol dictates that Andrew, as a private citizen, should bow to members of the royal family who retain their titles.

View 4 Images

View 4 Images

Speaking on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential Show about Charles’ titles move, Robert said: “The King has exercised his Royal Prerogative with parliamentary and government approval; he’s talked to the Prime Minister about this.”

He described Charles as “the fountain of justice,” adding that the monarch’s action had been taken after consultation at the highest level. Despite the scandal surrounding Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie’s titles remain unaffected due to their birthright.

“They are still Princesses and HRH because they are the children of the son of a reigning Monarch,” Robert said. He added: “All along, the King and other members of the family have been concerned that the sins of the family do not befall them. They are blameless, they have led a pretty upright life and are level-headed and very nice young women.”

But Beatrice and Eugenie are less likely to take on royal duties, unless called upon by His Majesty, as they are “essentially private citizens who are related to the King and occasionally turn up at royal events.” Their titles, he said, are protected under King George V’s 1917 Letters Patent.

Andrew stepped down as a working royal in 2019 after he was accused by Virginia Giuffre of having sex with her in March 2001, when she was just 17. She alleged she had been trafficked by Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Virginia claimed that Epstein and his girlfriend had taken her to Tramp nightclub in London, where she met with Andrew and later had sex with him that night.

She claimed that Epstein had paid her $15,000 after sleeping with Andrew. During an interview with BBC’s Newsnight in 2019, Andrew vehemently denied the allegations and told host Emily Maitlis he had no recollection of meeting Virginia. Andrew vehemently denies all allegations made against him.

Pauline Collins once revealed that giving up her firstborn child for adoption was the most heartbreaking decision she had ever made, but she was later reunited with her daughter

View 4 Images

Pauline Collins’ decision to give up her firstborn was the “most awful thing” she ever did. The legendary Shirley Valentine actress died at her care home in Highgate, North London, this week. She was 85 years old.

Her family said she died “peacefully” surrounded by her loved ones, having battled Parkinson’s for several years. In her memoir, Letter To Louise, released in 1992, Pauline opened up about the toughest decision she has ever made in her life.

Aged just 22, as a working actress in Ireland, she fell pregnant with her first child. In a heartbreaking move, she made the decision to put Louise, her daughter, up for adoption – a decision she kept from her friends and family for several years. Pauline, of Irish extraction, was brought up as a devout Catholic in Wallasey, Cheshire.

In her memoir, she spoke of the heartbreaking time. “I had her adopted when she was six weeks old,” Collins wrote. She went on to add: “It was the most awful thing ever to do.

View 4 Images

View 4 Images

“It’s extraordinary how you make these decisions in life. I thought my reasons for doing so were good. They were partly familial because my parents were teachers at Catholic schools and partly because I had not a penny in the world and nothing to offer this child.

“It is extraordinary thinking about it now because it means so little now. I remember thinking at one time if she was a boy it wasn’t so bad to be an illegitimate boy it was somehow more romantic. But it was tougher being an illegitimate girl because there would always people saying she will go the same way as her mother. For that reason I decided on adoption.”

Pauline continued: “It was awful, it broke my heart. It was like having a piece of your heart ripped out. I think it floors you for the rest of your life.” Later in Pauline’s life, her daughter, Louise, aged 21, tracked her down and they were reunited with one another.

But after her decision, Pauline knew the pair would be reunited someday, and it would be Louise who made the first move. She said: “I felt absolutely delighted when I opened her letter. I wasn’t surprised as three days before I had this extraordinary dream about her in which she was speaking to me so I knew it was coming. My three children were delighted.”

Pauline’s daughter, Kate, once wished for a sister and two weeks later, Louise came calling. Pauline starred in the first serithe es of sitcom The Liver Birds but did not become a household name until getting a regular role in Upstairs Downstairs in 1971.

She married fellow actor John Alderton in 1969. Her role in the 1989 film Shirley Valentine, playing the lead character of the bored Liverpudlian housewife, earned her an Oscar nomination.

Confirming her death, a statement read: “We are heartbroken to announce that Pauline Collins died peacefully at her care home in Highgate this week, having endured Parkinson’s for several years.

View 4 Images

“She was surrounded by her family. Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens.

“She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine – a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them. More than anything, though, she was our loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma. Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us. And she was John’s life-long love. A partner, work collaborator, and wife of 56 years.”

The statement ended saying: “We particularly want to thank her carers: angels who looked after her with dignity, compassion, and most of all love. She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers, so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her.”

Her husband, John Alderton, whom she married in 1969, said: “Pauline Collins was a remarkable star. I had the great good fortune to have worked with her more than any other actor in our many TV series, films and West End stage shows together, and watched her genius at close quarters.

“What I saw was not only her brilliant range of diverse characters but her magic of bringing out the best in all of the people she worked with. She wanted everyone to be special and she did this by never saying ‘Look at me’. It’s no wonder that she was voted the nation’s sweetheart in the 1970s. She will always be remembered for Shirley Valentine, not only for her Oscar nomination or the film itself, but for clean-sweeping all seven awards when she portrayed her on Broadway in the stage play, in which she played every character herself.

“But her greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children.” The actress’s family said that anyone wishing to donate in her memory can make a donation to Parkinson’s UK via their website, here.

If you have been affected by this story, you can contact Parkinson’s UK’s helpline on 0808 800 0303