James May, also known as Captain Slow, is a British journalist and TV presenter. He is often the subject of his co-presenters, Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson’s teasing on the internationally acclaimed car series, Top Gear.
The trio combined is widely known as the most paid English actors on BBC. However, when you break it down, how much is James May’s net worth? Find out that and more on his personal life with long-running partner Sarah Frater here.
Table of Contents
Who is James May?
Born James Daniel May in Bristol, England, on January 16th, 1963, the former Top Gear host is currently aged 60. He is also the oldest serving host of Top Gear in 1999 before the series got a facelift and the intrusion of his other co-presenters.
Believe it or not, James May wasn’t always about fame and television work.
The British star grew up as a choirboy and lover of classical music, which got him majoring in music at Pendle College, Lancaster University. May would later take up the role of a records officer at a local hospital just to get by.
It wasn’t till he diversified as a journalist that his career shot up in the 1980s, beginning his net worth climb.
James May Net Worth.
Despite working the same job, the trio has different sets of net worth depending on their lifestyle. Out of the three, James May’s net worth is the lowest at approximately $40 million. The BBC star began his career as a sub-editor for Autocar and The Engineer back in the early 90s.
Some of his other major employers include Channel 4, ITV, Sky, and The Daily Telegraph, a known columnist. Besides building his wealth as a TV presenter and journalist, James May is also a known author, having published well over fifteen books.
His latest excursions have featured filming various travel documentaries in Japan for Amazon Studios. Moreover, James is also part owner of a production company known as W. Chump & Sons which brings in tons of revenue.
James is in a relationship with Sarah Frater since 2000.
James May is a bit of an enigma when it comes to his love life. Since the year 2000, he has been dating art and dance critic Sarah Frater. The story of the couple’s initial interaction remains a mystery to this date.
Nonetheless, James and Sarah Frater’s love for each other remains pure and true, with James going all out on his partner. Last year, he knocked down his €325,000 home to start building a much bigger home for his girlfriend.
Back in 2013, the BBC star was very candid about the lengths he would go to for his girlfriend, Sarah.
“The permanent and fragrant presence of a woman demands something a bit better.”
Despite being in the public eye, there haven’t been any controversies surrounding their long-term relationship.
Why haven’t they married?
Many fans have often pondered the idea of James May getting married to Sarah Frater. It wouldn’t come off as strange, considering the couple has great chemistry.
Moreover, she is friends with Mindy Hammond, the wife of Richard Hammond, who has been in a successful marriage for years. Seeing that the couple hasn’t borrowed a page or two from the Hammonds, we sort out the root of the problem with James May.
He once went on record to say that he isn’t a hopeless romantic, and she’s pretty much okay with that. For Valentine, he won’t buy her flowers or lovely cards. Instead, he would opt for expensive jewellery.
Grand gestures like proposals aren’t really his thing, and if Sarah had a problem with not getting married, they wouldn’t be together.
The reason why James May does not have kids with Sarah.
In a former interview with Express Magazine, the BBC star once shared why he didn’t have any kids with his partner. He blamed life and being a late developer in general.
‘I think it was just a result of life; let’s put that down to being a late developer…’ he further added, ‘I’ve got nieces and nephews of many ages. I’ve spent loads of time working with people in their twenties…That’s the nature of television. It has a big influx of people of that age who disperse and move on to other things, and it’s all very fluid.’
Whatever that means, we’re sticking with never say never and are hopeful that marriage may just feature on The Grand Tour.
Who is James May’s wife, like partner Sarah Frater?
There is very scanty information available online to do with Sarah Frater. This is probably the result of a lack of a strong online presence on social media.
The most we know about her is her love for the arts and dance. As a critic for both, most people believe she must have had her career start in dancing before proceeding to write articles about them.
As we speak, she lives with her husband and cat in Hammersmith, West London. You can get her work on blogs, columns and several opinion platforms, such as the London Evening Standard, published each day.
Social Media Activities.
For someone aged 60, James May seems to be pretty good at keeping his fans entertained on social media. His Instagram boasts of 922K followers with random posts of his bike, rabbits, drinks, and nature. Over on Twitter, he is much more interactive, with 3.1 million followers.