Jeremy Clarkson defends celebs fleeing to their country pads for coronavirus lockdown
Jeremy Clarkson has defended celeb pal Gordon Ramsay who has been criticised for spending lockdown with family at a second home in the countryside during the coronavirus crisis.
Writing in his column for The Times, the 60-year-old has said it is perfectly within their right to do so, and said any negativity is simply down to “petty jealously”.
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It was reported last week Gordon Ramsay had taken family to their £4m Cornwall pad to see out the pandemic lockdown, something locals were reportedly unhappy about, citing more second-home owners in the area would mean greater strain on local services.
But, Clarkson isn’t so sure of their motive.
He wrote: "The lockdown is turning most people into monsters.
"Gordon Ramsay decided that if he was going to have to stay at home, the home he’d like to stay at was his backup pad in Cornwall.
"People say these weekenders will place an undue strain on stretched rural services, but that’s not the real reason for their resentment. It’s bitterness. It’s petty jealousy."
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The former Top Gear star also referenced singer Rita Ora, who is in lockdown at her second home in the south west, rather than her usual residence in London.
While the decision has lead to controversy in the press, Clarkson said people don’t like her being at a second home “because she can afford one and they can’t".
Ora recently revealed she was inspired by her NHS worker mum to volunteer to during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Speaking on This Morning, she told hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford: "I don’t want to speak for her, but I think what made me want to volunteer, even if it’s something like delivering food to someone’s home or picking up medicine, whatever it is.
"Seeing it firsthand, I felt, 'Oh gosh. This is so real that I felt like, what could I possibly do?'"
