James May took to X recently to fill in his followers about a disturbing crunching sound he now hears every time he moves his neck. His days on Top Gear and The Grand Tour might have come to an end, but life is seemingly still taking a toll on his joint health.

He confessed: "When I move my head around, my neck feels and sounds as if cornflakes have been inserted between the vertebrae. Should I worry about this or just have a gin?" Then he cheekily quipped: "Tbh I'm already having the gin." One fan who'd had a car crash in the past related to James' predicament as they said: "I get that too, because I broke my C2 [a bone located in the neck] twenty-five years ago in a car crash and nearly died so I figure the odd cornflake-sound is a fair swap," he quipped. "Actually I think it’s just the cartilage grinding a bit, and it goes away in my case. I don’t drink, but you have a gin!"

James had previously been rushed to hospital back in 2022 after his car smashed into a wall at 75mph in a collision that left even Jeremy Clarkson with a look of fear in his eyes.

Richard Hammond, meanwhile, thought for one heart-pounding moment that his co-star had died in the car.

The dazed-looking TV presenter emerged from the car to greet paramedics, before being transferred to hospital for X-rays and a brain scan.

Despite initial fears that he'd incurred a broken neck, he eventually received the all-clear, with just one broken rib listed among his injuries.

However, the collision took its toll, even for accident-prone James, who isn't on his first rodeo and once even broke his arm while leaving a pub.

One fan on X researched the symptom via Grok, returning with this explanation: "The crunching sound and sensation in your neck when you move it—often described as feeling like cornflakes or gravel—[is] likely crepitus, which is the noise made by air bubbles collapsing in the synovial fluid within your joints."

Another fan responded: "At the risk of getting blocked by one of my favorite TV personalities, perhaps less gin is part of the answer. I stopped drinking for a few months to see what happens, and was able to observe a mild improvement in terms of joint health."

However, James, who has his own gin brand, doesn't look likely to stop anytime soon - and when a fan begged for the return of the American Mustard flavour in his range, he assured: "It is coming back. Stand by!"