Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May have been accused of "scripting" a moment of jeopardy in the latest The Grand Tour special, Sand Job.
The penultimate special dropped on Amazon Prime Video last Friday and saw the trio tackle the sandy dunes of Mauritania on their way to Senegal as they sought to replicate the route made famous by the Paris-Dakar rally.
Sand Job was the longest Grand Tour special the three have ever done and was packed full of hilarious skits, high-octane speeds, and the occasional jibe at one another's expense.
Hammond - who recently announced his latest work project ahead of The Grand Tour's finale - was the one who fared the worst with his Aston Martin as he stumbled across flaw after flaw with the vehicle.
But things could've been a lot worse for Hammond and his Aston Martin at one point during the special as the former Top Gear star inadvertently drove into a live minefield.
The moment came when Clarkson, Hammond and May stumbled upon a bat-infested travel they needed to get through in order to continue their journey across the Sahara.
Jeremy Clarkson tried to warn Richard Hammond about the minefield in Sand Job
AMAZON
Clarkson went first and sped through the tunnel only to slam on the brakes at the last minute when he spotted the minefield at the end other end.
He then tried to warn Hammond but it was too late as his co-star was already speeding through the tunnel, unaware of the minefield ahead.
Hammond was unable to brake as promptly as Clarkson and ended up driving through the barrier and landing in the middle of the minefield, leaving him visibly shaken before reversing out exactly as he had gone in.
The Grand Tour star made it out safely but before long, the crew's petrol truck rocketed through the tunnel and into the minefield but again managed to avoid any explosives.
Richard Hammond's car ended up in the minefield
AMAZON
While Hammond and Clarkson looked visibly worried and concerned about the predicament they'd wound up in, it seems some Grand Tour fans aren't convinced the reactions were genuine.
Following Sand Job's arrival on the streaming service, eagle-eyed fans did some digging and discovered there was no such minefield on satellite images of the tunnel online.
As a result, fans took to Reddit to accuse the scene of being manufactured, including one viewer who penned: "The minefield bit was definitely scripted, but their reactions did look pretty genuine lol. The snowmobile hitting the fuel bowser was a different story. Nevertheless, still an amazing special."
A second agreed: "Minefield is absolutely scripted, there's no way they would have had someone drive a truck through an actual minefield. There's also YouTube videos of people exploring the tunnel and there's no minefield signs. I will still say though, until I saw the truck going straight through the mines, I got REAL nervous for Hammond."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- James May hits back at The Grand Tour backlash after disgruntled fan takes issue with Sand Job joke
- Ant McPartlin shares real reason for pausing ITV show after baby news as he admits he and Dec ‘need space’
- ITV’s Breathtaking branded ‘unrealistic’ as furious viewers claim broadcaster ‘failed’: ‘The arrogance’
Richard Hammond drove into the minefield at high speed - but fans aren't convinced it was genuine
AMAZON
Meanwhile a third took a swipe at the criticism: "They scripted the minefield? Next you’ll tell me they scripted the snowmobile driving into the bowser."
Another weighed in: "I've done a bit of movie prop making in the past and the sign they erected looks like it's been made to look weathered. They made the wood for the fence also look weathered, but the barb wire is still pristine. Of course that bit is faked."
"I thought the fact one of their crews willingly drove through it in the fuel bowser was a dead giveaway of lack of mines," added a fifth.
While a sixth suggested: "Of course it was scripted. They wanted to build anticipation on the fuel truck eventually exploding." (sic)