From Hollywood actor to 80s pop icon – we reveal which celebs make the best pub landlords like Jeremy Clarkson
JEREMY CLARKSON is swapping pigs for pints after becoming the latest celebrity to buy a pub.
The TV star and Sun columnist, 64, revealed this week that he planned to “ban confusing pub signs” and use local produce at his new Cotswolds boozer, The Windmill in Burford.
And we can exclusively reveal his efforts to overhaul the £1m building will feature on the next series of his hit Prime Video show, Clarkson’s Farm.
Filming for series four is now under way and cameras are following the star as he renovates the barn venue, which is a stone’s throw from his Diddly Squat estate.
Jeremy joins a growing number of high-profile pub owners, but how do they measure up?
Here, Grace Macaskill and Felicity Cross take a look at seven other famous names and reveal their best and worst TripAdvisor reviews.
Candice Brown
The Green Man, Eversholt
GREAT British Bake Off 2016 winner Candice said opening her pub was a “baptism of fire”. She wasn’t blessed with much luck after taking on The Green Man in Eversholt, Beds, in 2019 with brother Ben.
She dreamed of “getting to be Peggy Mitchell”, but things started to go wrong during the pandemic.
The 39-year-old watched as trade suffered during lockdown and split with husband Liam Macauley in 2020 after just two years of marriage.
He later claimed Candice being caught on film getting close to Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood put pressure on their relationship.
In May, Candice’s media firm La Vie En Farine went into liquidation with debts of more than £44,000. She still owns the pub but is no longer a director.
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5
Best review: “Lovely pub in a really pretty village. Decor is cosy and staff welcoming.”
Worst review: “The landlady might have won British Bake Off but in my opinion didn’t win anything for customer service.”
James Blunt
The Fox and Pheasant, Chelsea
THE You’re Beautiful singer fulfilled a dream by snapping up his local London boozer.
He opened The Fox And Pheasant in Chelsea in 2018 after it faced the risk of closure. Despite a successful music career, James, 50, describes the pub, which dates back to 1846, as “the best thing I’ve ever done.”
He told The Sun last year: “It’s like a little country village in London. It was my local, I’ve got a little house in that street and the pub was up for sale.” James joked he is “not allowed in the kitchen” and is “kept in the pot wash” away from the public. He also refuses to play his own music.
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5
Best review: “A lovely little pub tucked away.”
Worst review: “Please teach your staff manners.”
Idris Elba
Porte Noir, King’s Cross
THE Luther actor runs Porte Noire in London’s King’s Cross, which describes itself as a “Continental gastronomic wine bar in a stylish upscale environment” – fitting for one of the smoothest British actors around.
Idris, 51, opened it with business partner David Farber in 2021 after they produced a champagne together. Farber once joked: “If Idris was a bar, this would be it.”
You’re unlikely to get a glimpse of Elba with his busy acting schedule, but when the place first opened he said: “I wanted to create something luxe and special, but also warm and welcoming.”
TripAdvisor rating: 4
Best review: “I kick myself we hadn’t been sooner.”
Worst review: “Wow, service with a smile – NOT!!! Would never return, greeted by a man with NO personality.”
Sir Ian McKellen
The Grapes, Limehouse
THE Lord Of The Rings star hopes to create a little bit of magic with his pub on the banks of the Thames – and is often seen mingling with punters.
Sir Ian, 85, bought Grade II-listed pub The Grapes, in Limehouse, East London, in 2011 and lives in a nearby Georgian terrace.
Ian told last year how he was sacked from doing Monday night quizzes at the pub. He said: “I used to be the quizmaster and I devised the questions.
“It took me a whole day – 40 questions. Then my partner [in the pub] said, ‘We don’t need you any more’.
“I was sacked from my own pub, doing a job for which I wasn’t paid.
TripAdvisor rating: 5
Best reviews: “Awesome . . . it’s like taking a step back in time.”
Worst review: “The place is filthy-dirty.”
Stuart Broad
The Tap and Run, Melton Mowbray
THE cricketer and his business partner Harry Gurney, 37, were left stumped when their boozer caught fire.
It needed a £1million refit after a faulty tumble drier caused a blaze at The Tap And Run, near Melton Mowbray, Leics, in 2020. It reopened last August.
The pair own a second pub, The Griffin Inn, near Swithland, Leics, and have their sights set on another five. Stuart, 38, said it took several years for them to find their feet as owners and insisted they wanted to build a strong culture among the staff.
TripAdvisor rating: 4.5
Best review: “A pleasure from start to finish.”
Worst review: “Food was sub-standard – I would have expected better at a Wetherspoons.”
Jodie Kidd
The Half Moon, Kirdford
FORMER model Jodie is often seen behind the bar of her trendy West Sussex gastropub.
She bought The Half Moon at Kirdford with two business partners in 2017. They had feared it would be turned into someone’s “second home” if they didn’t step in to save it
Importantly for Jodie, it is also near to where the 45-year-old grew up. She said in 2019: “The last time I walked the catwalk in my teens, I suffered a huge panic attack. Everyone was staring and I just wanted to flee.
“I went back to where I grew up. I rode my horses and slept.” The move “curbed” her anxiety.
TripAdvisor rating: 4
Best review: “Stunning pub – a fantastic welcome”.
Worst review: “We won’t be going back . . . over-priced, pretentious.”
Rick Astley
Mikkeller, Shoreditch
CHEESY chart star Rick is never gonna let you down with his boozer in one of East London’s hippest areas.
The singer opened Mikkeller in Shoreditch in 2018 with Mikkel Bjergso, the founder of one of Denmark’s first microbreweries, after the pair had worked together to create Astley’s Northern Hop Lager.
It was so successful they ended up opening a larger version a few miles away in Islington a year later.
Rick, 58, who lives in London, said at the opening: “I met Mikkel in 2015 and through his passion for real quality, I have fallen back in love with beer.”
The singer has even been spotted performing in the pub.
TripAdvisor rating: 5
Best review: “Cool decor & staff – good atmosphere.”
Worst review: “My only disappointment was they were out of Astley’s lager.”