Former Stig: Jeremy Clarkson is ‘insecure’

If you were asked to describe Jeremy Clarkson, a lot of words might spring to mind. But one word which would be unlikely to feature on the list is "insecure".

That is how Ben Collins, formerly the man who played The Stig, described his old Top Gear colleague, according to the Independent. Asked to condense Clarkson's enigmatic personality into just one word, Collins initially plumped for "loud", before continuing "no... insecure".

It's safe to say there's no love lost between the two men. Clarkson has been openly hostile to Collins ever since he decided to reveal himself as The Stig, Top Gear's cult masked test car driver, in an autobiography last year. The BBC failed in their attempt to gain an injunction to prevent HarperCollins publishing the book.

The infamously provocative presenter has previously called Collins a "glorified Dalek" who drove "like a homosexual", but most recently has termed the ex-Stig "greedy".

In the interview, Collins said: "That's brash hypocrisy."

"It's a pretty silly comment; anyone who knows about the man saying it would think it was aimed in the wrong direction."

Top Gear viewers may be surprised to hear of Clarkson's alleged insecurity: after all, this is a man who appears to thrive on his own ego. If true, however, the next few months could be particularly tough.

After allegations surfaced in the tabloids of an affair with colleague Phillipa Sage, Clarkson is said to have moved into a London bachelor pad, while his wife Frances stays in the marital home in Oxfordshire. ·