We’re used to seeing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May all together as they jet off to a different part of the world and test out cars on The Grand Tour.
However, this July, James May is off on a solo trip for his travel series, James May: Our Man In Italy.
Over six episodes, the TV presenter will explore Italy’s history, landscapes, traditions and much more, while bringing his unique perspective to the country.
And while he’s “excited” for viewers to see what he got up to, May tells us it’s much “harder” filming alone than when he’s with his co-stars Hammond and Clarkson.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, May said: “We’ve all done a lot of solo things and we’re all doing solo things at the moment. I like doing things by myself, but also in some ways it’s harder because you have to provide everything – you haven’t got the others to sort of bounce off of or fill up the programme.
“I like having both because I can often do something by myself and then I can go and knock about stuff with the other two, and we can wind each other up and then all of us think, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to go off and do something myself.’”
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He continued: “I always get a little nervous before something comes out. There’s a little bit of you when you do this sort of thing for a living that thinks you’re about to be found out – that this is the one where somebody goes, ‘Hang on a minute, this bloke’s just mucking about on the holiday’ or something like that. So yeah, I find that a bit nerve wracking.”
May is hoping people will enjoy the new series, which will see him travelling from the Sicilian capital of Palermo to the peaks of the Dolomites as he visits some of the world’s most stunning landscapes, discovers foods and even gives his own take on Italian cuisine.
In an exclusive clip, May can be seen making a Full English pizza in Our Man In Italy.
So, was it any good?
“I’m not sure I’d recommend that. I tried it several times, but I’m not sure I could quite get it to work,” James laughed. “You don’t want one of those, I don’t think.”
On how the locals reacted to him making changes to their traditional dishes, he added: “I think politely, I would say. I’m not really keen on rules. And I’m especially not keen on food rules because I just think you should be able to do what you want. Italians – it sounds like a cliché, and it is, but they do get very, very uptight about you doing things like having a cappuccino with something savoury, or having one in the afternoon or putting parmesan cheese on the wrong sort of pasta and [they say] you shouldn’t put it on fish, which I agree with.
“These are all generalisations inevitably, but they do – I suppose the word is – connect with eating and drinking and it’s slightly spiritual for them and they’re quite sort of zealous about it.”
James May: Our Man in Italy will launch Friday 15th July 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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