Jeremy Clarkson explains why Grand Tour Madagascar special has been delayed

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed the upcoming Grand Tour Madagascar special has been delayed after the show’s executive producer contracted coronavirus.

Clarkson held a livestream with Andy Wilman to explain why the latest instalment of the Amazon Prime Video motoring show had not yet arrived.

The Madagascar special was filmed six months ago, Wilman said, and it will be several weeks before the episode is handed over to the streaming giant.

Wilman, who worked with Clarkson and his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May on Top Gear, revealed he had been seriously ill with coronavirus, describing it as “the worst thing I have ever had, ever”.

He added: “I was out for 10 days.” The pair then discussed how much work goes into editing the final programme before giving it to Amazon.

Wilman said the special episodes require whittling 1,000 hours of filming down to the 90-minute finished product viewers see.

“In our defence, most of that 1000 hours is you three talking, going on and on,” Wilman said.

“It takes about five weeks for all of that to process before the editor can even access it.

“Then there are three more months of shaping it and then there’s all the back and forth and that’s even before Amazon get it and they have it for five weeks.”

Clarkson asked when the episode would be ready, with Wilman saying they are in the “final strokes” of work on the episode and could be “two to three weeks” from giving it to Amazon.

Clarkson replied: ‘Give it to Amazon in three weeks, so if you want to know when the next instalment of The Grand Tour is coming up, ask Amazon, not us.”

It was announced last year The Grand Tour would focus on sweeping specials rather than being based in a studio.

The presenting trio visited Cambodia and Vietnam for the most recent episode, which began streaming in December.