Star Facts
- James studied music at Lancaster University
- When he’s not throwing tantrums on planes, James likes to play the flute
- James has flown to the edge of space onboard a US Military spy plane
- He was fired from Autocar magazine
James Daniel May Quotes
This is probably what will happen to me in hell... a TVR, a racetrack, and a pedantic Scotsman.
Biography:
Floppy haired Top Gear oaf James May was born in Bristol and studied music at Lancaster University. Moving to London James worked for the Civil Service before entering the world of auto journalism in the early 80’s.
He worked for The Engineer and then moved to Autocar magazine before being fired for hiding an acrostic in one of his pieces of work, which read "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse."
He has since written regularly for Car Magazine, Top Gear magazine, and has a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph. Branching out into TV work, James presented Driven for Channel 4 and Road Rage School for the BBC before hitting the big time with Top Gear in 1999. The show was promptly axed, and then brought back after a revamp in 2003, with the present trio of presenters, James, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.
Proving that he has more interests besides cars, James has also presented documentaries about toys, sharks, scientific discoveries and inventions, and space exploration. In James May at the Edge of Space, James May actually flew to the edge of space, a distance of 70,000ft, onboard a US spy plane.
James currently lives in Hammersmith, West London, with his long-term partner, dance critic Sarah Frater.