Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan's friendship and feud explained
30 May 2025, 15:41
Here's what happened between Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan - including their decade-long feud and new-found friendship.
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Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan are now on friendly terms, despite a highly publicised feud that spanned over a decade. The two famously clashed multiple times, culminating in a punch-up at the 2004 British Press Awards.
Despite this, Piers makes an unexpected appearance in Clarkson's Farm 4, where Jeremy reaches out to his "dear friend" for advice about opening a pub, as he struggles with the realities of launching his own pub-venture, The Farmer's Dog.
While they have now made amends, their feud dates back to 2002 when Piers, the editor of the Daily Mirror at the time, published photos of Jeremy with a woman who wasn’t his wife, sparking an intense personal fallout.
The animosity intensified over the years, with another confrontation aboard Concorde and finally a physical altercation that left Piers with a scar and Jeremy with a broken finger.
Are Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan actually friends?
Yes, despite their decade-long feud, Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan are now friends.
The TV host and Diddly Squat Farm owner buried the hatchet back in 2014 after years of hatred, which even included a punch-up at an awards show.
In Clarkson's Farm 4 (episode five) Piers makes an appearance on the Prime Video series via a video-call with Jeremy to discuss the issues with opening and running your own pub. Jeremy's voice-over explains that he is reaching out to friends to ask for advice ahead of opening The Farmer's Dog, which include Piers as well as James Blunt, James May and Guy Ritchie.
Introducing Piers - who previously bought the pub Hansom Cab in Kensington, London in 2010 - Jeremy says: "I started with a chap who has been a dear friend for decades," before they go on to chat.
Jeremy asked Piers if he has any advice, to which he replies: "People steal stuff from pubs. Every publican will tell you. They'll nick the salt and pepper pots. They'll nick knives and forks. They might even nick plates. They'll nick any art they can rip off the walls."
Why were Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan feuding?
Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan's feud was highly-publicised in the early 2000s, and made headlines when the farm-owner punched the former Good Morning Britain host during an awards ceremony.
It all started in 2002 when Piers, who was the editor of the Mirror at the time, published pictures in his paper of Jeremy with a woman who was not his wife. According to reports, Jeremy allegedly asked for the pictures to be kept away from the tabloids, but Piers ignored the request, which ultimately left his ex-wife and children hurt.
The pair's feud excelled in 2003 when, during Concorde’s last ever commercial flight, Jeremy and Piers were sat next to one another, resulting in the issue coming to a head. At the time, Jeremy poured a glass of water on Piers' crotch so it would look as if he had wet himself in the pictures.
Fast-forward to 2004 and Piers and Jeremy came face-to-face again at the 2004 Press Awards, where the Top Gear star punched his nemesis in the face. Jeremy recalled what had happened that evening in a piece written for The Times, where he explained that Piers had written "unpleasant stories" about him, and that the journalist and TV star thought "it was a joke", so he punched him three times.
He wrote: "'Why’s your f****** wife looking at me like that?' he [Piers Morgan] thundered. So I punched him. And then I punched him again. And then I thought: 'You know what? I don’t think this would ever get boring.' So I punched him again. And, annoyingly, broke my finger."
While Jeremy broke his finger, Piers was left with a scar on his head from the altercation.
The pair reflected on the punch-up during Piers' appearance on the Christmas special of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (which was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson), where Morgan was attempting to win big money for charity. During the quiz, Piers decided to use one of his lifelines to answer a question, which involved him using Jeremy for advice.
“I can think of a million reasons why I shouldn't trust you, including this scar on my forehead," Piers joked during the episode, to which Jeremy replied: "And there's your broken finger, from when he struck me."
They ultimately made up after agreeing to meet and patch things up during a five-hour drinking session.
Speaking on the Big Fish podcast, Piers reflected on how far they had come: "That scar on my head is where he punched me in the head, we're not exactly best buddies, although we get on fine now."
He added that he could have “played the victim” after the punch, but decided to let it go because he "would have done the same."
