Jeremy Clarkson has been one of the biggest names in automotive television for decades. Alongside Richard Hammond and James May he helped turn car shows into global entertainment. Their chemistry became the heart of Top Gear and later The Grand Tour
One of the people taking on that enormous challenge is Thomas Holland, the Canadian automotive presenter best known as one half of the YouTube channel Throttle House.
Holland is joining British presenter James Engelsman and social media star Francis Bourgeois for the new era of The Grand Tour on Prime Video.
The new six-part series is scheduled to premiere on September 4, 2026.
For longtime fans, the obvious question is simple: Who is Thomas Holland and why did Amazon choose him to follow Jeremy Clarkson?
Their videos combine detailed car reviews with comedy, challenges, track tests and strong personalities.
That background makes Holland a natural fit for a show built around cars and entertainment.
Still, replacing Clarkson is not really about copying Clarkson. Amazon appears to be taking a different approach.
The new presenters are expected to keep the adventurous spirit of The Grand Tour while bringing their own personalities to the franchise.
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Table of Contents
Who Is Thomas Holland?
Thomas Holland is a Canadian automotive journalist, presenter and amateur race car driver.1
He is best known for co-founding and presenting the YouTube automotive channel Throttle House with James Engelsman. Amazon describes Holland as someone who specialises in high-performance vehicles.
Holland’s journey into automotive media was not built around a traditional television career.
According to The Independent, Holland studied biology and founded Throttle House in 2015 partly because he was bored. The channel initially focused on BMW builds and occasional car reviews. Its audience grew considerably after James Engelsman joined the project in 2018.
That detail is important because it explains why Holland’s presenting style feels different from traditional automotive television.
He and Engelsman developed their own format online. They could experiment with cars, jokes, challenges and production ideas without being restricted by an established TV format. Over time that helped Throttle House develop a recognizable identity.
The pair became known for testing cars in real-world conditions and on tracks. Their videos often focus on performance, handling, acceleration and the emotional side of driving.
That combination of knowledge and entertainment is exactly what Amazon needs for the next chapter of The Grand Tour.
Thomas Holland and Throttle House
Throttle House is the biggest reason Holland became a serious candidate for The Grand Tour. The channel has grown into a major automotive YouTube brand with more than three million subscribers.
RTÉ reported that Throttle House had more than 3.35 million subscribers when the new Grand Tour presenters were announced in February 2026.
The channel is built around Holland and Engelsman’s chemistry.
Their videos include car reviews, comparisons, track tests and unusual automotive challenges. The format gives them room to be serious about cars while also being funny and occasionally chaotic.
That balance matters.
A presenter on The Grand Tour needs more than mechanical knowledge. The audience also needs to enjoy watching the person behind the wheel.
Clarkson had his blunt opinions. Hammond had his enthusiasm and physical comedy. May brought a dry and often deliberately understated style.
Holland already understands that dynamic from years of making online automotive entertainment. His biggest advantage may therefore be experience rather than fame alone.
He knows how to talk about a car while keeping an audience interested. He knows how to create entertaining moments around a vehicle. Most importantly, he already has years of experience working with Engelsman.
Amazon itself highlighted the duo’s long-running partnership when announcing the new presenters. Holland and Engelsman have spent almost a decade making car films together.
That existing relationship could become one of the most important parts of the new Grand Tour.
I forgot I had a twitter account. Hi everyone.
— Thomas Holland (@thomashollandTH) January 21, 2022
Stats Table
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Thomas Holland |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Profession | Automotive journalist, presenter and amateur race car driver |
| Best known for | Throttle House |
| Throttle House co-host | James Engelsman |
| Throttle House founded | 2015 |
| Engelsman joined | 2018 |
| Main content | Car reviews, comparisons, track tests and automotive entertainment |
| YouTube audience | More than 3 million subscribers |
| New TV role | Presenter of The Grand Tour |
| New co-presenters | James Engelsman and Francis Bourgeois |
| New series | Six-part The Grand Tour |
| Premiere | September 4, 2026 |
| Main platform | Prime Video |
| Automotive speciality | High-performance vehicles |
Why Is Thomas Holland Replacing Jeremy Clarkson?
It is worth clarifying the wording here.2
Thomas Holland is not replacing Jeremy Clarkson as a solo presenter. Holland is part of a new three-person presenting team that also includes James Engelsman and Francis Bourgeois.
The original trio of Clarkson, Hammond and May ended their run on The Grand Tour in 2024. Amazon then began looking for a new team to continue the franchise. The new lineup was officially announced in February 2026.
Amazon had a difficult job.
The Grand Tour had been strongly associated with the personalities of Clarkson, Hammond and May. Simply choosing three conventional television presenters would not have recreated the show’s appeal.
Instead Amazon selected people who already had strong connections with cars and online audiences.
Holland and Engelsman brought automotive expertise and years of chemistry from Throttle House.
Francis Bourgeois brought a different kind of enthusiasm and a huge social media following. Bourgeois is also a qualified mechanical engineer with experience at Rolls-Royce.
The result is a team that is different from Clarkson, Hammond and May rather than a direct copy of them.
That appears to be deliberate.
Thomas Holland’s Experience Makes Him a Natural Choice
The biggest reason Holland fits The Grand Tour is his automotive background.
Amazon described him as an automotive journalist and amateur race car driver who specialises in high-performance vehicles.
That experience is useful because the new show is not expected to abandon the car-focused elements that made the original successful.
The new season will include major automotive adventures across several countries. The presenters will cross the Angolan desert in track cars, explore Malaysia’s car culture and travel to California to test high-performance vehicles.
These are not ordinary studio reviews. The presenters have to drive unusual cars in challenging environments. They also need to turn those experiences into entertaining television.
Holland has already spent years doing a smaller-scale version of that on Throttle House. That makes the move from YouTube to Prime Video less surprising than it might initially seem.
What Will Thomas Holland Do on The Grand Tour?
Holland will be part of the presenting team rather than the sole face of the show.
The new Grand Tour is expected to maintain the franchise’s combination of cars, travel, challenges and comedy.
The first new series will take Holland, Engelsman and Bourgeois across several locations. Amazon has confirmed adventures in Angola, Malaysia and California.
That means Holland will have to move beyond the traditional YouTube review format.
A Throttle House video might focus on whether one car is faster than another or how a vehicle behaves on a track.
The Grand Tour gives him a much bigger canvas. There are long-distance journeys, unusual challenges and international locations. This is also where Holland’s relationship with Engelsman becomes important.
The two already understand how to work together on camera. Their years of collaboration should make it easier for them to develop natural banter without having to manufacture a relationship for television.
Amazon’s executive producer Andy Wilman has also emphasized that the new presenters are not supposed to be copies of the old trio. He praised their passion, knowledge and chemistry while stressing that they have their own identity.
That is an important distinction. The goal is not to create another Clarkson. The goal is to create a new Grand Tour.
Jeremy Clarkson Has Given the New Team His Approval
One of the biggest questions surrounding the reboot was whether Clarkson would support the new presenters.
According to Autocar, Clarkson has publicly approved the new lineup. He described Holland, Engelsman and Bourgeois positively and said they were funny.
That endorsement could help reduce some of the pressure surrounding the reboot. Clarkson’s shadow is naturally going to be enormous.
He was one of the defining figures of Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Fans who watched him for years will inevitably compare the new presenters with him.
Holland himself appears to understand the challenge.
When discussing the reboot, he joked that when he first heard The Grand Tour was replacing Clarkson, Hammond and May he thought that “only a moron” would take the job.
The comment captures just how intimidating the opportunity is.
At the same time, it shows that Holland knows the new presenters cannot simply walk onto the show and pretend nothing has changed.
Can Thomas Holland Fill Jeremy Clarkson’s Shoes?
The short answer is that Holland does not need to fill Clarkson’s shoes. That would be almost impossible.
Clarkson built his television identity over decades. He became famous for his writing, opinions, humour and distinctive personality. His partnership with Hammond and May also developed over many years.
Holland is coming from a different generation of automotive media.
His career was built on YouTube rather than traditional television. His audience discovered him through online videos rather than Top Gear. His relationship with Engelsman has been formed through digital content.
That difference could actually be an advantage.
The new Grand Tour has an opportunity to attract viewers who grew up watching automotive content on YouTube and social media.
Holland represents that transition. He understands internet audiences while also having enough automotive knowledge to lead major car-focused adventures.
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Why Throttle House Was the Perfect Training Ground
Throttle House has effectively been a long audition for this kind of job.3
Holland and Engelsman have had to learn how to review cars while keeping videos entertaining. They have developed a strong on-camera relationship. They have also learned how to build stories around vehicles.
That is very close to the basic challenge of The Grand Tour. The difference is scale. Prime Video can take the same skills and put them into a much bigger production.
Instead of a YouTube shoot, Holland can now work with a large production team, international locations and major automotive challenges.
The move also demonstrates how important YouTube has become to the automotive entertainment industry.
Traditional television used to be the main route for presenters.
Holland’s career shows that a creator can build a substantial audience independently and eventually move into a global streaming franchise.
What Makes Thomas Holland Different From Clarkson?
Holland’s style is not identical to Clarkson’s. That is probably a good thing.
Clarkson is known for provocative opinions and a very recognizable television persona.
Holland’s appeal comes more from his enthusiasm for cars, performance testing and the chemistry he has built with Engelsman.
Throttle House is also much more connected to the online automotive community. That gives Holland a different perspective on what modern car enthusiasts want to watch.
He can discuss performance seriously while still keeping the tone relaxed. His experience on YouTube also means he understands pacing and audience engagement in a way that traditional television presenters may not.
The new Grand Tour will need that balance. It needs to respect the show’s history without becoming a tribute act.
The Importance of James Engelsman
Although much of the attention has focused on Holland, James Engelsman is equally important to the new lineup.
The two presenters have been working together for years.
Engelsman joined Holland’s Throttle House project in 2018 after initially approaching him with ideas and asking to become involved. Their partnership eventually developed into one of the most recognizable automotive creator duos on YouTube.
That existing chemistry could be one of the strongest weapons of the new show. Fans do not only watch car programs for technical information. They watch for relationships.
Clarkson, Hammond and May became successful because audiences enjoyed watching them argue, compete and joke with each other.
Holland and Engelsman already have their own version of that dynamic. Adding Bourgeois gives the group another personality who can disrupt their established rhythm.
What Can Fans Expect From the New Grand Tour?
The new series will continue the franchise’s focus on cars and adventure.
Amazon has confirmed a six-part series that will travel through Angola, Malaysia and California.
The trailer has already given fans a first look at the new presenters in action.
The Independent reported that the footage showcases Holland, Engelsman and Bourgeois as they begin their attempt to establish their own chemistry.
The pressure will be high. Some fans will naturally miss Clarkson, Hammond and May.
Others will be curious to see whether the new trio can create something different.
Holland’s presence gives the show a strong automotive foundation. His challenge will be proving that his YouTube personality works on a much larger stage.
Why Thomas Holland Is Trending Now
Thomas Holland’s name is receiving renewed attention because The Grand Tour represents a major career jump.
For years he was primarily known to people who followed automotive YouTube. Now he is stepping onto one of the world’s most recognizable car-show platforms.
The move also reflects a larger change in entertainment. Creators who built audiences online are increasingly moving into television and streaming.
Holland is a strong example of that trend because his transition is based directly on the success of the content he created.
He did not become a Grand Tour presenter by leaving the car world. He became one by succeeding in it.
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FAQ’s
Who is Thomas Holland?
Thomas Holland is a Canadian automotive journalist, presenter and amateur race car driver. He is best known as the co-host and co-founder of the automotive YouTube channel Throttle House with James Engelsman.
Is Thomas Holland replacing Jeremy Clarkson?
Thomas Holland is part of the new presenting team replacing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on The Grand Tour. He is not replacing Clarkson as a solo presenter. Holland will host the show alongside James Engelsman and Francis Bourgeois.
What is Throttle House?
Throttle House is a popular automotive YouTube channel created by Thomas Holland. James Engelsman became part of the channel in 2018. The channel is known for car reviews, comparisons, track tests and entertaining automotive challenges.
How many subscribers does Throttle House have?
Throttle House has more than three million YouTube subscribers. RTÉ reported a figure of more than 3.35 million subscribers when the new Grand Tour presenters were announced in February 2026.
When did Thomas Holland start Throttle House?
Holland founded Throttle House in 2015. The channel initially focused on BMW builds and occasional car reviews before expanding. James Engelsman joined the project in 2018.
Who are the new presenters of The Grand Tour?
The new presenters are Thomas Holland, James Engelsman and Francis Bourgeois. Holland and Engelsman are best known for Throttle House while Bourgeois became famous through his viral trainspotting content and has a background in mechanical engineering.
Conclusion
Thomas Holland’s move from Throttle House to The Grand Tour is one of the clearest examples of how automotive media is changing.
He did not come from a traditional television background. He built his reputation online by reviewing cars, testing performance vehicles and developing an entertaining partnership with James Engelsman.
That experience has now opened the door to one of the biggest opportunities in automotive television.
Holland will face obvious comparisons with Jeremy Clarkson. That pressure is unavoidable. Clarkson, Hammond and May created a television partnership that became part of popular culture.
For Thomas Holland, the journey from making car videos on YouTube to presenting a global Prime Video motoring series is already a remarkable career step.
And considering where he started, it may be the biggest Throttle House road trip yet.
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