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Jeremy Clarkson’s long-term friend and former colleague has revealed what the star is like away from screens. Andy Wilman has worked with the former Top Gear star for over two decades. Andy was considered the co-creator of Top Gear, alongside Jeremy, and has since worked on the likes of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm. His first venture into the television world was on Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld. The producer has now opened up about his relationship with Jeremy. He says the former Grand Tour star is a “worker bee”, describing him as a “hard-working insomniac” who “won’t easily give up”. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Andy said: “He may be King of Outspoken Opinions, but behind all that Jeremy is a worker bee. He generates his own ideas, of course, but if you tell him to do some work by a certain time, he will just get on and do as asked." Andy has been friends with Jeremy since they were teenagers. In fact, he was best man at both of the TV star’s weddings, with Jeremy returning the favour when Andy tied the knot with wife Amanda in 1998. The pair met at a public school in Derbyshire where Andy, who has a disability which means he struggles with co-ordination, was a boarder. Upon meeting him, Jeremy said: “From what the teachers told us about your disability I was expecting a man in a white coat to wheel in a trolley carrying a fish tank with just a brain bobbing about wearing a school cap with wires connected to it — you know, like in Doctor Who.” The pair however bonded over a love of 1970s rock music and smoking. Jeremy was asked to leave their school at 18, going on to land a job at the Rotherham Advertiser before his career as a TV presenter. Andy believes that had it not been for the star, he could have been “working on building sites” still. Jeremy helped him land his first job on a car magazine, Auto Express, which led to him moving to the Top Gear magazine as a features editor. Jeremy's close friend isn’t the only one to have shared a glowing assessment of the presenter away from the screen. Earlier this year a Reddit user opened up about their experience at Diddly Squat Farm. They wrote: “Met Jeremy, Lisa and Gerald last week whilst I was taking part in something being filmed for season 4. They’re all lovely. “I walked into the office where they always sit to discuss farm business on the show and Jeremy was sitting in his chair having a cup of tea or coffee. He was more than happy to chat, we even ended up talking about scenes from the movie Airplane for some reason. "We spoke several more times throughout the day and he happily let me have a photo taken with him despite it being a busy schedule. "One thing I didn’t expect is how much he listened to me about things we were discussing. He asked questions and I knew he’d taken my answers on board because I heard him repeating some of the things I’d said to other people later on. Great bloke in my opinion."
