James May

About

James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter, author and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme Top Gear from 2003 until 2015 and the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video from 2016 to 2024. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons.
May has presented other programmes on themes including travel, science and technology, toys, wine culture, and the plight of manliness in modern times. He wrote a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph’s motoring section from 2003 to 2011.

James Daniel May was born in Bristol, the son of aluminium factory manager James May and his wife Kathleen. He was one of four children; he has two sisters and a brother. May attended Caerleon Endowed School in Newport, Wales. He spent his teenage years in South Yorkshire, where he attended Oakwood Comprehensive School and Thomas Rotherham Sixth Form College in Rotherham and was a choirboy at Whiston Parish Church.
May studied music at Pendle College, Lancaster University, where he learned to play the flute and piano; he also spent a year studying…