James May says he’s ‘hopeless’ at canoe polo
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Viewers were thrilled to see the return of James May earlier this month, as they tuned in to watch his new Amazon Prime series, Our Man in Italy. Following the success of Our Man in Japan, The Grand Tour star travelled across the pond where he explored what Italy had to offer. The 59-year-old took part in several challenges including the likes of making his own cheese to playing polo in a canoe.
However, speaking in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk and other press, the former Top Gear presenter discussed the challenges of filming for the series.
The fitness fanatic shared an update on his health, explaining he put on a bit of weight due to eating too much Italian food.
“The trouble is a combination of three things,” James began. “The food in Italy is very nice, two, there is always tonnes of it wherever you go, and they talk about it constantly.
“That is a cliche, but it’s a perfectly valid one…and the third one is when I was at home, especially over the pandemic period and so on, I did quite a lot of exercise and I’d go cycling every day.
“Once we’d got to Italy, I did take a folding bike with me but I didn’t get that much [of a] chance to ride it so I did about a 20th of the exercise I’d normally be doing.
“Yeah, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I did get a bit tubby towards the end and I still am.”
James took part in a number of tasks during the series in order to embrace the Italian culture.
Although, he went on to speak about what challenges he refused to take part in.
When asked about refusing to take part in something show bosses asked him to do, James admitted: “Oh, god yeah all the time.
“I always say ‘I’d like to do this, this and this’ and they rather begrudgingly allow me to do those things, but then the crew and producers come up with some surprises.
“It just makes better tele if I don’t know what is coming up.
“If I was left to my own devices I would do craft, art, I’d look at some famous buildings and I would explore some spas.”
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He added: “The crew and producers basically want me to be uncomfortable, dress, up have a terrible time and hurt myself.”
The Grand Tour presenter went on to recall how “chaotic” filming for Our Man in Italy was.
“Well, to be honest, it’s all a bit chaotic, because it’s Italy…that’s another cliche but they will be the first to acknowledge it,” he said before adding: “Italy has a sort of level of disorganisation, but it all works.
Speaking about making cheese, James explained: “I make my own cheese starting with the goat and milking it.
“For some reason, anything to do with cheese always causes a massive argument.”
Despite loving some aspects of filming for the show, not everything went to plan for James.
He recalled the embarrassing moment show producers asked him to try canoe polo.
“The most embarrassing thing would be canoe polo because I don’t fit in the canoe,” James said.
“I’ve only ever paddled a canoe twice in my life and that was many years ago and I didn’t really fit and I was playing against a lot of 18 and 19-year-old women.”
James May: Our Man in Italy is available to watch on Amazon Prime.
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