Jeremy Clarkson has fired back at social media critics who blamed his recent heart surgery on his meat-heavy diet.
Over the weekend, the 64-year-old revealed he had a stent fitted following a "sudden deterioration" in his health.
His update sparked online discussions about his lifestyle, with one user commenting on X, formerly Twitter: "Now he seems to have had a heart attack, and needed surgery - what does he expect eating all that meat?
“He can't be surprised."In typical fashion, Clarkson responded bluntly: "Better than dying of vegetable-induced boredom."
The Grand Tour star revealed he underwent an urgent heart procedure after experiencing a “sudden deterioration” in his health.
The former Top Gear host spoke in his column in The Sunday Times about what he called the “wearisome effects of growing old”.
Clarkson detailed how a swim while on holiday in the Indian Ocean appeared to cause him difficulties using the stairs, which when he returned home meant a “sudden deterioration began to gather pace”.
He says he had symptoms of being “clammy”, with a “tightness in my chest”, and “pins and needles in my left arm”, and after hearing the news of former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond’s fatal heart attack, he decided to go to see his doctor.
Clarkson says he went to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford via an ambulance, where a heart attack was ruled out after he had an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests and X-rays.
He said he then went to an “operating theatre”, after further checks, and doctors said he was perhaps “days away” from getting very ill.
Clarkson said: “It seems that of the arteries feeding my heart with nourishing blood, one was completely blocked and the second of three was heading that way.”
He said a stent, which can save lives and stop future heart attacks through improving blood flow to the heart, was fitted in around two hours.
The motoring journalist said: “It wasn’t especially painful. Just odd,” and added that he has been thinking: “Crikey, that was close.”
Clarkson concluded saying he was “wondering what water tastes like and if it’s possible to make celery interesting” following the health scare, as he seemed to consider lessening his meat intake.
He has previously revealed he had to quit smoking after contracting pneumonia on holiday in Spain.
