Viewers of The Grand Tour have claimed that a terrifying event in the most recent programme was staged for cameras.
The TV series, which premiered in 2016, involves former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond as they perform assessments of various automobile models while also engaging on motoring-themed challenges and races.
Their latest episode, Sand Job, follows them across the remote African country of Mauritania to the renowned Paris-Dakar rally.
Although many viewers have enjoyed seeing them take on the difficult assignment, some have chastised the programme for a sequence in which Richard, 54, looked to be in a tricky situation.
During the voyage, Richard accidentally drove his Aston Martin into an active minefield.
The time arrived when the group discovered a bat-infested tunnel that they needed to pass through in order to continue their trek across the Sahara.
Stepping up to the plate first was Jeremy, 63, who rushed through before slamming on the brakes at the last minute when he noticed the minefield at the other end.
Attempting to warn Richard, who was not far behind him, was too late because the presenter was already driving into the tunnel, oblivious of what was coming.
He was unable to brake as quickly as his co-star, so he drove through the barrier and landed in the centre of the minefield.
Clearly terrified, he escaped unscathed and was able to rapidly reverse out.
Even after those two close encounters, the crew’s gas truck followed, avoiding any of the explosives.
Although the presenters appeared worried about what had happened, several individuals watching at home believe it was all for show.
Following the program’s publication, several investigated and discovered that there was no such minefield on satellite photographs of the tunnel available online.
Then they rushed to Reddit, accusing the scenario of being fabricated.
‘I found the tunnel from Sand Job on Google Maps and I wasn’t able to find a minefield near this tunnel, so this was most likely scripted, but there is a big minefield problem in West-Sahara in general,’ the original poster shared.
‘The minefield bit was definitely scripted, but their reactions did look pretty genuine lol. The snowmobile hitting the fuel bowser was a different story. Nevertheless, still an amazing special,’ another wrote.
‘Minefield is absolutely scripted, there’s no way they would have had someone drive a truck through an actual minefield. There’s also YouTube videos of people exploring the tunnel and there’s no minefield signs. I will still say though, until I saw the truck going straight through the mines, I got REAL nervous for Hammond,’ someone else commented.
Another added: ‘I thought the fact one of their crews willingly drove through it in the fuel bowser was a dead giveaway of lack of mines.’
Meanwhile, someone else put up what they said was evidence that what happened was not totally true.
‘I’ve done a bit of movie prop making in the past and the sign they erected looks like it’s been made to look weathered. They made the wood for the fence also look weathered, but the barb wire is still pristine. Of course that bit is faked,’ they wrote.
The Sand Job special, which is the penultimate in the long-running series, sees the presenters compete in their ‘hottest challenge ever’ where they must complete their journey in cheap modified sports cars.
‘Their journey begins with the world’s longest train and sees them tackle the killer Sahara and perilous river crossings, whilst protecting their precious fuel bowser from exploding,’ the synopsis explains.
While the show’s last full season aired in 2021, it was followed by two specials: A Scandi Flick in 2022 and Eurocrash last year.
The last special was taped in Zimbabwe and is expected to be published sometime next year.
When asked why he was done with the ‘immensely physical’ programme, Jeremy described himself as ‘unfit, obese, and elderly’ and announced the series’ conclusion last month.
The Grand Tour: Sand Job is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.