'GOOD RELATIONSHIP'
Everyone says I’ve tamed Jeremy but he wears the trousers… I let him think so, anyway, says Lisa Hogan
BEHIND every great man, there’s a great woman – and this could not be more true of Jeremy Clarkson and his girlfriend of five years, Lisa Hogan.
Anyone who has watched Clarkson’s Farm – the Prime Video show that sees Jeremy attempt to turn a profit from running his own farm – will be familiar with 49-year-old Lisa’s pained expression as she watches her partner battle with tractors, livestock and the elements, despite his total lack of farming experience.
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It’s clear the TV presenter has met his match in the 6ft 2in Irish model. But she didn’t make it easy for Jeremy, 62, when the pair first met at a party in 2017.
Sitting on a sofa at the farm, sipping tea, Lisa explains: “We were set up by friends. He was just about to leave the party and I was like: ‘Oh, no, let’s stay for a drink,’ and then we chatted for a while.”
Jeremy has a reputation for being a Marmite character – he once placed 66th on a Channel 4 poll for 100 Worst Britons We Love To Hate.
Lisa was aware of him before they met, but she put any preconceived notions aside, preferring to get to know the real man rather than his onscreen persona.
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“I knew he’d be a good conversationalist because he’s very bright. I thought: ‘Well, he’ll be interesting.’ And then we just got on really well. I don’t relate him to the person who’s on TV, because it’s not him.
"The TV show [Top Gear] would be on, because I have a son, so on a Sunday evening, he was allowed to stay up late to see it. But I never sat down and watched it. Though there was one episode I caught that was amazing – the one with a Toyota pick-up truck that they were trying to kill and it just wouldn’t die. But otherwise, no, it wasn’t my thing.”
Lisa, who was once described as John Cleese’s muse after appearing alongside him in the 1997 movie Fierce Creatures, and who counts Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry among her friends, laughs at the idea that she would be dazzled by Jeremy’s fame.
“You grow up in Dublin with so many celebrities. They had a tax thing where many musicians moved there [artists’ earnings are exempt from income tax in certain circumstances], so it’s no big deal. I used to cycle past Spandau Ballet on the way to school in the morning.
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Even if they’re famous, if they’re not a nice person, it doesn’t matter that they’re famous – they’re still not a nice person. Whereas if they’re famous and a nice person, they’re just a nice person who happens to be famous.”
When they were introduced, Lisa was enjoying the single life, having separated from her husband Baron Steven Bentinck in 2011 after nearly 30 years together. The pair have three grown-up children – Lizzy, Wolfe and Alice. Meanwhile, Jeremy had split from his second wife, Frances Cain, the mother of his three children Emily, Finlo and Katya, in 2014 after 21 years.
Lisa was wary about jumping into anything serious with the Grand Tour presenter and so made sure he put the work in before she committed to him. They made their first public appearance together at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2017.
“He courted me for quite a long time. He took me out for dinner. He would pick me up, drop me off. I wanted to know that he wasn’t messing around. We’d both come out of quite long-term relationships and I was really happy being single. So I was like: ‘If I’m not going to be single any more, I don’t want to be with a messer.’”
And then did it suddenly hit her that she was into him?
“I’m still waiting for that moment,” she says deadpan, before cracking up laughing. “Yeah, there was [a moment]. I had given myself three months, but it was way before that, where I thought: ‘OK, I really like this person.’ He has a laser brain and will take you down – and that’s where the fun and the challenge is with him, trying to take him down.”
Most people would imagine dating a celebrity to be non-stop private jets, holidays in the Caribbean and island-hopping on luxury yachts. But Lisa insists she got a raw deal – instead of the high life, Jeremy persuaded her to leave glamorous London and move to the Cotswolds to help run his farm.
“That’s certainly not my life at all,” she says with a sigh. “I’ve never travelled so little since I met him, to be honest. I always end up in the countryside. I want to live in London so badly. Coming from Dublin, London is such an incredible city and it’s the kind of mecca – you know, for a young girl leaving Ireland. I was like: ‘OMG, London is so cool.’ Now I go to London as a treat, which is fantastic.”
I want to live in London so badly. Coming from Dublin, London is such an incredible city and it’s the kind of mecca – you know, for a young girl leaving Ireland.
Lisa Hogan
Jeremy bought the 1,000-acre plot, including Curdle Hill Farm, in Oxfordshire in 2008, and employed local farmer Howard to run the business, which he renamed Diddly Squat in tribute to its lack of productivity.
When Howard retired in 2019, Jeremy decided he was up for the challenge of running it himself – with a Prime Video TV crew in tow to document his efforts of growing wheat, barley and rye, and raising a flock of sheep.
Unsurprisingly, the show was a runaway hit – series two is due later this year – and hundreds of fans regularly flock to the village of Chadlington to queue for hours to buy their fresh produce from the Diddly Squat Farm Shop run by Lisa – much to the disdain of some of the locals, who often complain about the level of traffic from visitors.
“We can only stock [produce] from up to 16 miles away, while most farm shops can go up to 30 miles away. And they come in to check. I can’t have parking – they don’t want to give me it.
"I think they might want to close it, because it brings too much traffic to the area. But I employ so many people and everyone stays in hotels around here. And Chipping Norton, which has tumbleweeds going through it, is jam-packed. So all the locals are thrilled, but there’s just one or two people that are being tricky.”
As well as the farm shop, there’s a booming online store with plans for expansion.
Their bestseller is the “bee juice” honey produced on the farm by their millions of bees, which make a memorable appearance in one episode of the show, when Jeremy is stung on the bum while setting up the hives.
The couple are particularly passionate about selling more honey, as it’s made by their Ukrainian beekeeper Viktor Zaichenko, and they are donating a portion of the profits to help get his family and friends out of the war-torn country.
There’s no doubt Lisa is a formidable force – she gives as good as she gets and certainly keeps her partner on his toes. Describing her relationship with Jeremy like training a dog, she says: “I’m a huge, huge support. And I like being a support. But he has to appreciate it in return. He’s learned – it’s like puppy training.”
She’s got plenty of experience of that – the couple have two beautiful red fox labradors, Arya and Sansa (named after characters from Game Of Thrones – a series Lisa and Jeremy devoured together).
Jeremy previously joked that Lisa’s main job on the show is to “roll her eyes” at his moronic ideas, adding that she is good at doing that. In one episode, where he fails in his attempt to create a trout lake, she exclaims: “What the f**k are you doing? Holy s**t, Jeremy!’’
'HOLY S**T, JEREMY'
As most viewers are aware, reality shows are often quite far from reality. Surely this is all manipulated to make good TV? Lisa shakes her head: “That’s very genuine. Literally. No [I never ask them to stop filming or take stuff out].
"It’s true. We don’t really row that much, but when we’re on camera, he can’t talk over me as it messes with the recording, so I can get him,” she says with a glint in her piercing blue eyes.
“We do have a really good relationship. Jeremy definitely wears the trousers, but I’d like to think it’s fairly even, to be honest. He doesn’t want to make me unhappy and I don’t want to make him unhappy. So there’s a kind of balance there. I do enjoy being a strong woman.
"He’ll say he wants something done and I’ll try to talk him around to a more sensible way. And then I’ll agree to do exactly what he wants… And then I’ll go ahead and do exactly what I want!
“I don’t know [if I’ve tamed him], because I didn’t know him before. Everyone says that [I have]. I do get a lot of compliments. And I don’t really know what it means…”
Despite more than a decade between them, Lisa jokes that Jeremy seems so much younger, saying: “I feel like a sloth going out with him. He’s 10 years older than I am. I’ve got quite good energy levels, but his energy and his capacity to just get things done is just unbelievable.”
She admits that lockdown was hard as they lived in a cottage and couldn’t escape each other. They have since finished their dream mansion on the outskirts of the farm and having more space to escape to has helped their relationship. “It’s nice being here [in the big house], because when we had the cottage I had nowhere to go. I wanted to literally just sit there [alone] and it just wasn’t possible.
"I do have to escape every now and again with my computer and just do some emails quietly. And he’ll come find me and I love that. He’s extraordinary. He’s never dull.”
She tries not to think about what Jeremy gets up to when he is back on the day job filming The Grand Tour. Co-presenter Richard Hammond’s wife Mindy has previously tried to ban him from dangerous stunts after he nearly died in a crash filming for Top Gear in 2006. Would Lisa do the same?
'VERY SCARY'
“I can’t [ask him not to do them], because he’s gonna go. He goes off and I can’t sit here worrying. It’s not going to do any good. I had to make myself not worry. And then he says: ‘Oh, I did something today that was very scary.’ And I’m like: ‘OK, tell me.’ Whereas if he told me before, I would say: ‘You must be careful,’ and it would panic him more. So no [I prefer not to know before].”
What does the future hold for the couple? Could there be wedding bells ringing and a proposal on the cards?
“Mrs Clarkson? No, thank you, I like Lisa Hogan.” Pausing, she adds very earnestly: “We decided not to have children together.”
After an awkward silence that makes us question if she’s serious, she bursts out into an affectionate cackle. “We’re at a stage where we are not going to have kids. I’m just happy pootling along. I think because of our age, it’s much easier. You go: ‘God, is it you I end up with? OK, that’s it.’
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"But it’s relaxing knowing you are not going to be with anybody else. It gives you a certain amount of liberation.”
- Follow Lisa and Jeremy on Instagram . To support local farmers stocked at Diddly Squat Farm Shop, visit .
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In the make-up chair with Lisa
What are your skincare heroes?
Avène Thermal Spring Water Spray. The dirt just bounces off.
Any make-up bag essentials?
I use Laura Mercier SPF30 Tinted Moisturiser every day, then Charlotte Tilbury mascara and blusher.
Who’s your beauty icon?
Katharine Hepburn. She was a bit of a tomboy, but she had panache and strength.
What do you splurge on?
Sisley face cream. Or getting my hair done properly – I do it myself a lot.
And what’s your budget buy?
Sheet masks. You can pick them up anywhere and they are quick and good.
What’s your top beauty tip?
I’ve used Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm on my lips for years.
Describe your beauty evolution
In the ’80s l was using brown eye pencil as lipliner. I’ve simplified things and it’s more about skin now. If I find something that suits me, I stick with it.
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