Lisa Hogan, Jeremy’s partner of nine years, says Jezza was planning to keep his illness private – until he realised how much he could do to help other cancer sufferers
JEREMY Clarkson’s other half has told of her pride at his decision to go public with his prostate cancer battle.
No-one knows better than Lisa Hogan, Jeremy’s partner of nine years, how tough it was for him to share his most vulnerable moments with fans. He even allowed scenes of his hospital treatment to appear in his Amazon Prime show, Clarkson’s Farm.
Lisa opened up to the Daily Star at the Big Christmas Press Show in London, where she was promoting the couple’s new Diddly Squat jigsaw range. She says the ex-Top Gear presenter, 66, was planning to keep his illness private – until he realised how much he could do to help other cancer sufferers.
She explains: “I’m really happy he caught his prostate cancer early and I’m really proud of him for putting it on the show, because that was a really big decision. When I was filming him in hospital, at first he said ‘please don’t.’”
Lisa told Jeremy the video was just to show his friend, producer Andy Wilman, how well he was doing. But it was ultimately Andy who persuaded him to give the touching footage a wider audience.
Lisa adds: “It was Andy Wilman who convinced him to do it, to help everybody else. When the show came out, Prostate Cancer UK had 30,000 people going onto their website in one day.”
Another source of pride for the actress, famed for running the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, has been seeing Jezza open up to male friends about his condition. He initially struggled to talk about his health, she admits.
“Yes, of course it was a terrible worry,” she says. “But what I did encourage him to do was to talk to his friends.
“He didn’t want to initially, but he’s got lots of friends who’ve been through the same thing and he’s been talking to them about it. I think that’s really helped.”
Jezza, who was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of cancer in May 2025, revealed in June that he is now in remission. He had around ten per cent of his prostate removed as part of his treatment.
It came less than a year after he was rushed to hospital, feeling “clammy” with a “tightness” in his chest, in October 2024. He needed emergency heart surgery to fit a stent, which opens up narrowed or blocked arteries.
Lisa says: “The stent was a big op and it was nearly open-heart surgery. The surgeons said if they sent him home and told him to come back the next, he just wouldn’t come back.
“So they really threw the kitchen sink at it. It’s normally a 50-minute procedure but it took them three hours.”
Thanks to the heroic efforts of his medical team, at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, she says Jeremy’s health is now “really good.” He’s still having regular check-ups, but if all goes well, he won’t need any further treatment.
He’s not made any major lifestyle changes, Lisa adds. “He’s still working harder than ever and he still loves a glass of rosé, but he’s happy.
“I think he likes his walk to work on the farm. Having travelled for so long all over the globe, he really loves not going to an airport. He just puts on his wellies and his jeans and he’s ready to go.”
And Lisa, who moved to Oxford with Jezza to open their farm in 2019, sounds like she’s also thriving in the countryside. She’s been working on their Diddly Squat merchandise, including the popular range sold at Blue Diamond Garden Centres.
Their latest creations include Ravensburger jigsaw puzzles, featuring colourful scenes of farm life.
“When we released the thousand-piece, it sold out in days,” she says. “I didn’t realise how many people I know are into puzzles and said they couldn’t buy them.
“Andy Wilman’s into puzzles. Jeremy did the thousand-piece, it took him a while. He was obsessed as well and he probably hasn’t done a puzzle since he was six.
“Working with the artists was really fantastic. I couldn’t believe how many things they packed in.”
· For more information about Diddly Squat merch, head to diddlysquatfarmshop.com or head to a Blue Diamond Garden Centre.
· Season 6 of Clarkson’s farm is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime next summer.