Richard Hammond: The Grand Tour host on killing and eating family pet

May shrugged and said at the time: “Scientifically chicken is a vegetable.

“If you cut a chicken’s head off it still runs around, proving it’s not a sentient being, it’s a higher-order vegetable.”

Fast-forward to the present day, and Hammond is back to eating meat, explaining in a recent interview that he dispatched of the family rooster humanely before serving him up for supper.

“I did go vegetarian for a year, which was a fascinating experience and I don’t eat as much meat now as I used to,” he said.