EXCLUSIVE Is Ellen DeGeneress swimming pool behind Jeremy Clarksons disastrous Farmers Dog pub opening? ALISON BOSHOFF reveals all

The disastrous opening of Jeremy Clarksons Cotswolds pub is the climax of season four of the global hit series Clarksons Farm.

The disastrous opening of Jeremy Clarksons Cotswolds pub is the climax of season four of the global hit series Clarksons Farm.

And now locals are claiming that one of the reasons why it was such a nightmare is down to his new neighbour, US TV star Ellen DeGeneres, filling the swimming pool at her new house.

As viewers of the show may recall, mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmers Dog in August 2024.

Both the pub toilets and kitchen had to close, and customers were turned away in their droves.

In an exchange seen on-screen Clarksons plumber claimed the problem was due to villagers in the nearby hamlet of Asthall using up all the water in the mains system - not leaving any for the pub, a mile away and also up a hill.

Clarkson said on episode eight of the show: I was hoping the problem was something trivial, but the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill.

Clarksons plumber then explained: As far as I know, the water pipe comes all the way up the hill from Asthall village.

When everyone in the village is turning their water supply on, showers, filling up pots and pans and kettles, it doesnt then have the oomph to push it up the hill [to the pub].

The opening of Jeremy Clarksons (pictured) pub in the Cotswolds was hit by difficulties, as the new series of his Clarksons Farm programme shows

The opening of Jeremy Clarksons (pictured) pub in the Cotswolds was hit by difficulties, as the new series of his Clarksons Farm programme shows

Former US TV host Ellen DeGeneres moved to the Cotswolds last year with wife Portia De Rossi (right)

Former US TV host Ellen DeGeneres, pictured (left) with wife Portia De Rossi, with whom she moved to the Cotswolds with last year 

Mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmers Dog last August

Mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmers Dog last August

A local from Asthall, who did not wish to be named, reveals: It was around the August Bank Holiday weekend [2024] that the swimming pool at the Ellens farmhouse was being refilled.

Pools of that size filled with normal mains water can take a week to nine days to fill - sometimes even longer depending on the local mains water pressure.

If you can imagine having all the taps on to fill the pool, that has to take a lot of water out of the system and Asthall really is just a very small hamlet with a handful of houses.

Then perhaps it is no surprise that Clarkson, with all the water a business like that uses, ran out of water.

The local believes that Ellens 56ft-long pool was emptied, cleaned and refilled around August Bank Holiday last year for the former chat show host and her wife, actress Portia De Rossi.

Ellen bought a £15million farmhouse in Asthall, a hamlet with only a handful of other houses, in June of last year.

She had decided to quit her home in Montecito, California, in an apparent protest at US President Donald Trumps second election win.

Ellen and Portia did not move in until last October, with various building works and landscaping being done in the period in between.

Clarkson says in the new Clarksons Farm series: I was hoping the problem was something trivial but the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill

Clarkson says in the new Clarksons Farm series: I was hoping the problem was something trivial but the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill

Customers are seen queuing up outside The Farmers Dog pub as it opened last August

Customers are seen queuing up outside The Farmers Dog pub as it opened last August

Ellen DeGeneres bought the £15million farmhouse she shares with her wife Portia De Rossi in Asthall, a hamlet with only a handful of other houses, in June of last year

Ellen DeGeneres bought the £15million farmhouse she shares with her wife Portia De Rossi in Asthall, a hamlet with only a handful of other houses, in June of last year 

The pool itself measures 56ft by 12ft, with an average depth of 6ft, which means it holds 112,896 litres of water.

Filling it with mains water will have taken anywhere between seven to nine days.

It is thought that the only other pool in the village is at Asthall Manor, which is owned by the aristocrat and local Green Party district councillor Rosie Pearson.

That has a natural swimming pond and a fish pond - however, it is not thought either were being refilled at that time.

Ellen and Portias move to the Cotswolds came to light after they were videoed attending a live music night at The Farmers Dog in December.

It subsequently emerged that Ellen and Portia had fallen in love with the only other pub in Asthall, The Three Horseshoes, just a short stroll from their house.

Sources said they loved the Three Horseshoes so much they had a version of the pubs bar built at their own farmhouse later.

In November last year, the 43 acres of land surrounding Ellens farmhouse was badly flooded when a tributary of the Thames, which runs through the farm, broke its banks.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were filmed visiting The Farmers Dog last November

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were filmed visiting The Farmers Dog last November

The Grand Tour host bought The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for about £1million and, after renovating it, he renamed the watering hole The Farmers Dog

The Grand Tour host bought The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for about £1million and, after renovating it, he renamed the watering hole The Farmers Dog

They were teething problems on the pubs second day after opening - wiut.

They were teething problems on the pubs second day after opening - with both the toilets and kitchen having to close and customers turned away in their droves

The pubs launch features in the new, fourth series of Clarksons Farm - a hit on Amazon Prime

The pubs launch features in the new, fourth series of Clarksons Farm - a hit on Amazon Prime

This spring, Ellen and Portia moved again – this time to a stunning £15million modern house in a hilltop location, near Chipping Norton.

Clarksons Farm, now in its fourth season, is a huge global hit.

But the star and his girlfriend Lisa Hogan say they cannot bear to watch the last two episodes because it brings back the stress and trauma of those pub-opening days so vividly.

The Grand Tour host Clarkson bought The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for about £1million and, after renovating it, he renamed the watering hole The Farmers Dog in recognition of his pets and his nearby farm, Diddly Squat.