Vernon Kay has hailed Chris Packham just days after the naturalist became embroiled in a public spat with Jeremy Clarkson over Clarkson’s Farm.
The BBC Radio 2 presenter was full of praise for Packham while discussing the conservationist’s new BBC Two series, Evolution, after watching it with Paddy McGuinness for this week’s episode of Celebrity Gogglebox.
Kay and McGuinness appear together on the Channel 4 show, while Packham stars alongside his stepdaughter, Megan McCubbin.
Speaking on his Radio 2 breakfast show this week, Kay said: “Paddy and I did Gogglebox for this Friday and there’s a nature programme with Chris Packham.
“He talks about evolution – that’s what his programme is about.
“He talks about where we all stem from, and one cell is the key to all life. Fascinating. It’s worth a watch. Paddy and I were like, ‘Get out – no way!’
“I couldn’t believe I was related to him, I’ll be honest with you. We’re all related to each other,” he remarked.
“It’s cracking. It’s a great show. Chris Packham – one of the best, isn’t he?”
Kay’s glowing endorsement comes after Packham criticised the portrayal of farming in Clarkson’s Farm during last week’s episode of Celebrity Gogglebox.
Watching the opening credits, Packham argued the idyllic scenes were “not what a farm looks like”, adding that many farms are “sprayed with deadly chemicals” and keep animals “indoors in crates”.
Clarkson hit back in his column for The Sun, dismissing Packham’s comments as “b******s” and arguing the conservationist knew they were untrue because he had previously visited Diddly Squat Farm.
“The endlessly angry Chris Packham went on Gogglebox this week and erupted in blind fury about the Winnie the Pooh-ish opening credits to my farming programme,” he wrote.
“’That’s not what a farm looks like’, he fumed. No, Chris. It’s a drawing. But he wasn’t finished.
“’Most farms are horrible monocultures which have been sprayed with deadly chemicals . . . the ground has been pumped full of fertiliser and most of the animals are indoors, in crates, being crushed and kept in the dark.’”
The former Top Gear presenter wrote that Packham had spent time “foraging and bird watching” on the farm in 2012, adding that if animals had been “crushed” in crates, “I’m pretty sure he’d have noticed and said something.”
Clarkson’s Clarkson’s Farm co-star Harriet Cowan also weighed in, posting on TikTok: “Chris Packham. Maybe before throwing shade at all farmers, research your facts. What world are you living in?”
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