REPORT: Jeremy Clarkson against female Top Gear host, calls audience members 'oafs'

Top Gear chief oaf (read: presenter) Jeremy Clarkson is no stranger to controversy when he speaks. In fact, he rather seems to thrive on it, which undoubtedly is a big part of the appeal of the show. Earlier this week, he spouted off again apparently in an attempt to irritate (or bemuse) women everywhere while at the same time alienating his core audience.

While discussing Top Gear at a television conference in Scotland, Clarkson apparently indicated that he didn't think a female presenter would be able to hold her own in the testosterone-infused environment that is the Top Gear studio. According to Clarkson: "I think a girl would be a disaster, seeing the chemistry we have now...you bring a girl in and you start taking the piss out of her, that would look like bullying."

At the same event, Clarkson also referred to most of the live audience at the show as oafs, using that as a justification for bringing some of the attractive women in the crowd up to the front. In this case, it may be hard to argue, and Jezza was probably just verbalizing what the hosts of many programs such as NBC's Today Show are thinking when they look out the window at the people standing in the street hoping for a few seconds of screen time.

What do you think – is Clarkson right or wrong? Could Top Gear benefit from a female voice, or is it better off as a boys' club? Drop your fellow reader a line in 'Comments.'

[Source: The Guardian | Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty]

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