Jeremy Clarkson holidays with his wife in Barbados after affair claims

By
Michael Seamark
Last updated at 8:34 AM on 5th April 2011

Jeremy Clarkson has been accused of having an affair with a blonde colleague while on tour with his Top Gear show.

The BBC presenter, 50, yesterday reacted to the allegations in typically brash style on holiday in Barbados with his wife Frances, 49, and their three children.

Spending the day on a speedboat and racing around on a jet-ski wearing loud Bermuda shorts, he seemed not to have a care in the world.

Display of unity: Clarkson and his wife Frances spent the day on a boat in Barbados while he also spent time racing around on a jet-ski

The ‘other woman’ was yesterday identified by one newspaper as single
mother Phillipa Sage, 42, who has been working alongside Clarkson as
part of the lucrative international Top Gear Live tour.

Miss Sage said reports of a romance were ‘nonsense’, insisting:
‘Jeremy and I are friends. I have worked with him, er, them (the Top
Gear team) for years.’

Soaking up the sun: Clarkson takes a stroll on the beach yesterday after the claims came to light

When told she had been seen entering Clarkson’s hotel suite in the
early hours, unmarried Miss Sage, who has a five-year-old son, said:
‘What? I often stay in colleagues’ hotel rooms – that’s not unusual.

‘I have been pictured with Jeremy several times, dozens of times, while working on the show. We are just friends.’

Clarkson’s mother Shirley also angrily dismissed the allegations,
insisting: ‘It’s a load of rubbish. He’s right now on holiday with his
wife and children, happy as Larry. He sent me a text on Mother’s Day
saying, “I hear the Press think I’m Tiger Woods – don’t worry, I’m
not!”.’

Under the headline ‘Clarkson’s Mistress’, the Daily Mirror claimed
Miss Sage had spent several nights with Clarkson as he and his
co-presenters, Richard Hammond and James May, toured Australia, South
Africa and Norway.

Last month the party checked into Oslo’s £500-a-night Grand Hotel.
After the Top Gear show, Clarkson and Miss Sage – who shared a
chauffeur-driven car to the venue – were alleged to have gone to his
corner suite at 1.15am.

The next evening Hammond and May sat at the other end of the hotel’s
rooftop bar from Clarkson and Miss Sage, who reportedly sat together
under separate blankets drinking white wine.

Shortly after 1am, he said goodnight and, it was claimed, ‘kissed
Phillipa on the lips in full view of the group and public’. Moments
after Clarkson left, she was said to have slipped out of the bar and
walked with him to his suite, remaining there all night.

On the final show of the tour, on March 27, the newspaper claimed the
couple again spent the night together before flying back to the UK,
where Clarkson was reunited with his wife, also his manager, and their
children, aged 16, 15 and 12.

Rubbishes claims: Jeremy Clarkson has laughed off accusations that he has been having an affair with Phillipa Sage. Pictured while on the Top Gear Tour

Married: Jeremy was seen with wife of 18 years Frances as they left Scotts restaurant last month before he headed to Oslo on Top Gear tour

Clarkson has been married to Frances for
18 years and she has masterminded the TV star’s multi-million-pound
career.

The newspaper claimed his affair had also been going on in Australia
and South Africa earlier last month.

The couple were photographed by the
pool at a Johannesburg hotel, where it was claimed Clarkson was seen
‘feeding Phillipa lettuce with his fingers’. It was claimed he went to
his room alone but was later followed by her.

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