ITV bosses offer Jeremy Clarkson a ‘lifeline’ despite calls to cancel the presenter after controversial Meghan Markle column

Jeremy Clarkson has been offered a ‘lifeline’ by ITV, following the fall out from the ex- Top gear presenter’s comments on Meghan Markle.

The presenter, 63, sparked a backlash with an incendiary column about the Duchess of Sussex in which he said he ‘hated’ the royal.

Jeremy apologised for the article, calling his language ‘disgraceful’. The Sun newspaper also apologised for publishing the column and removed it online.

Now, The Mirror has reported that ITV are allowing Jeremy to keep his job as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? 

A senior source at Stellify, who makes WWTBAM, told the publication: ‘Clarkson made a big mistake with his column, but unusually for him, he did apologise wholeheartedly afterwards. This helped him compared to someone like Piers Morgan who refused to make a U-turn on his comments about Meghan on GMB. 

Jeremy Clarkson has been offered a ‘lifeline’ by ITV, following the fall out from the ex- Top gear presenter’s comments on Meghan Markle

‘ITV have been playing a waiting game to see how things look and how people have been reacting to new episodes going out this year of Millionaire with Clarkson. 

‘There has been no huge reaction and so a decision has been made to continue with him in the chair. It is a second chance for Clarkson but if he were to overstep the mark again it’s unlikely there will be a third chance.’

MailOnline has contacted ITV and Jeremy’s representatives for comment. 

Jeremy has been hosting the quiz since 2018 and took over from previous host Chris Tarrant for a revamped version of the hit series.

He sparked a backlash with an incendiary column about the Duchess of Sussex in which he said he ‘hated’ the royal.

Ipso, the press watchdog, upheld a complaint that the column was sexist towards the duchess, describing some of Clarkson’s comments about her as ‘pejorative and prejudicial’.

Clarkson said he emailed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Christmas Day to apologise over his column in The Sun newspaper in which he said he ‘hated’ Meghan.

In a lengthy statement on his verified Instagram account, The Grand Tour presenter earlier said he emailed the couple on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been ‘disgraceful’ and he was ‘profoundly sorry’.

The presenter, 63, sparked a backlash with an incendiary column about the Duchess of Sussex in which he said he ‘hated’ the royal

He said: ‘One of the strange things I’ve noticed in recent times is that whenever an MP or a well-known person is asked to apologise for something, no matter how heartfelt or profound that apology may be, it’s never enough for the people who called for it in the first place.

‘So I’m going to try and buck the trend this morning with an apology for the things I said in a Sun column recently about Meghan Markle. I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head. This is me putting my hands up. It’s a mea culpa with bells on.

‘Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the landmine exploded.’

Clarkson described the moment he picked up a copy of The Sun to ‘see what all the fuss was about.’

He continued: ‘We’ve all been there, I guess. In that precise moment when we suddenly realise we’ve completely messed up. You are sweaty and cold at the same time. And your head pounds. And you feel sick. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Had I really said that? It was horrible.

‘I knew what had happened straight away. I’d been thinking of a scene in Games of Thrones, but I’d forgotten to mention this. So it looked like I was actually calling for revolting violence to rain down on Meghan’s head.

‘I was very angry with myself because in all those controversial days on Top Gear, when I was accused of all sorts of things, it was very rarely sexism. I was mortified and so was everyone else. My phone went mad. Very close friends were furious. Even my own daughter took to Instagram to denounce me.’

In a lengthy statement on his verified Instagram account, The Grand Tour presenter said he emailed the couple on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been ‘disgraceful’ and he was ‘profoundly sorry’

Ipso rejected complaints that the piece was inaccurate, harassed the duchess and included discriminatory references to her on the grounds of race

Clarkson’s statement went on to say ITV and Amazon, which airs Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and The Grand Tour respectively, were ‘incandescent’.

He said: ‘The Sun quickly apologised and I tried to explain myself. But still, there were calls for me to be sacked and charged with a hate crime.

‘More than 60 MPs demanded action to be taken. ITV, who make Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and Amazon, who make the farm show and the Grand Tour, were incandescent.

‘I therefore wrote to everyone who works with me saying how sorry I was and then on Christmas morning, I emailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too.

‘I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I’d used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry.’

Clarkson said he will ‘try’ to be ‘interesting and vigilant’ at the same time in future columns.