Clarkson: 'Hammond could be sacked for sexism'

Jeremy Clarkson has commented on the Sky Sports sexism storm by comparing the incident to a potentially-offensive joke made by Top Gear co-star Richard Hammond.

Referring to the controversy that saw Sky Sports pundits Andy Gray and Richard Keys exit the network, Clarkson detailed in his Sun column a risque past exchange between Hammond and a paramedic working on Top Gear live.

He recalled: "Just last year, while performing at a venue in South Africa, Richard Hammond and I noticed the paramedic was rather attractive. Every day we would invent new aches and ailments so we had an excuse to pay her a visit.

"Then, on the last day, Hammond said to her: 'Nurse, I think my willy tastes funny'. Should he be sacked for that? Some would say yes and really, these are the people that need to be looked at. Because they lack the one characteristic that actually makes the world go round - tolerance."

Clarkson, Hammond and their fellow Top Gear star James May joked at Wednesday's National Television Awards that they "would have been sacked 100 times for the things we've said".

Clarkson himself later described the Sky Sports sexism verdict as "terrifying".