James May Axes Own Show Ahead Of Final Grand Tour Episode

It remains to be seen exactly what Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond go on to do once the final episode of The Grand Tour (with them as presenters, at least) airs later this year, but we now know one place that James won’t be showing up again, and that’s on his successful cooking show, Oh Cook!

First aired in 2020 on Prime Video, Oh Cook! – a play on May’s famous and slightly blue catchphrase – was based around the premise that he was a hopeless chef and wanted to improve his skills in the kitchen. It followed on from the food-related videos he’d been presenting for DriveTribe (the origin of his widely-memed exclamation of ‘cheese’). After a successful first series, it returned for a second run in 2023, and was also spun off into a cookbook in 2020.

James May

Now, though, it seems the show’s been put to rest for an unlikely reason – as a result of its production, May has become an accomplished home cook, and its premise therefore no longer has any traction.

Speaking to The Sun, a TV industry insider said: “The whole idea behind the show was James being a clueless cook and learning on the job. It was a totally fresh concept that viewers lapped up, as usually cooking series are presented by professional chefs. But after two seasons, James is now quite a good cook, so it’s not a gag he can continue to flog.”

James May at dinner with Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson

Despite The Grand Tour and Oh Cook! both coming to an end, we’re still likely to see plenty more of May on our TVs and devices. While it’s not been officially confirmed, it’s been strongly hinted that we’ll see more episodes of James May: Our Man In…, his Prime Video travel documentary series that’s so far seen him visit Japan, Italy and India.