By Chris Littley
For caravan owners, it has sometimes felt that Jeremy Clarkson’s whole career has been built on his dislike of motorhomes, but the former Top Gear host has now made an epic U-turn.
In his recent column for The Sunday Times, he spoke out about changing his mind on the vehicles and even buying one for himself.
He wrote in the column: “I’ve made it very plain that I hate them. And now I’ve bought one.”
Mr Clarkson lives in a small cottage with his partner Lisa Hogan and her daughter, making it difficult for the young woman to invite friends round.
So, the solution seemed to be to get a caravan and the family invested in a Cosalt Rimini model, but it ended up being unused when the friends realised there was no Wi-Fi.
Mr Clarkson said: “I was cross. And I remained cross right up to the point that Matt Hancock, who is the health secretary, announced last week that ‘lavish’ foreign holidays would not be possible this summer.”
He seemed to realise that caravanning looks like a very appealing option once lockdown rules are relaxed and people are desperate to leave their homes but won’t be able to travel abroad.
The issue of social distanced holidays is one that still requires a lot of clarification and there will be problems with capacity and visitors flooding tourist hotspots.
Mr Clarkson pointed out that Brits will not be holidaying on the Greek islands this summer or renting cottages or staying in hotels.
He summarised: “If you want a holiday, you’re going camping.”
The first time that Mr Clarkson was seen pitting himself against caravans on air was during the third season of Top Gear.
Three of them were destroyed as a stuntman tried to jump a Volvo estate over a bank of caravans and spectacularly nosedived off the ramp instead.
Since then, the topic of caravans has become a running joke with Mr Clarkson, with his opinion of motorhomes only seeming to get stronger and stronger.
So, if there’s one good thing about the lockdown, it could be seeing the outspoken host being proved wrong.
