James May humiliated as he struggles to sell show tickets after Grand Tour finale

James May suffered a humiliating blow with disastrous ticket sales for his new one-man show, James May: Explorers, The Age of Discovery. The Daily Mail reports that there were several empty rows of seats at the second show of his 13-date UK tour at Bath's Forum venue on Wednesday night (October 1).

The show, which continues on from his latest documentary James May's Greatest Explorers, promised to blend theatrical techniques with the star's signature storytelling to deliver "an evening of compelling intellectual entertainment". The outlet claims that around 800 tickets went unsold at the 1,640-capacity venue, which is just less than half.

They claim that the number of attendees was so low that producers closed down the entire 460-seat rear circle section of the Somerset theatre, and devoted fans were offered better seats closer to the stage.

The publication added that two weeks before Wednesday night's performance, the ticketing company Ticketline emailed attendees who had already bought cheaper tickets in the rear circle to offer a free upgrade to better seats closer to the stage.

The message read: "I am contacting you regarding your booking for James May at Bath Forum on the 1st October 2025. The venue has been in touch to inform us that the rear circle has been closed for this show.

"Your original tickets are no longer valid, and you have been allocated new seats in the front circle." It is understood that James attempted to make light of the quiet turnout throughout the two-hour show.

It has been reported that he opened the show by saying, "Thank you very much for coming. Especially those who have come disguised as empty seats." He reportedly later compared the show to that of astronomer Brian Cox, adding that his was "much bigger and much more popular than mine."

It appears that tonight's show (October 3) at the Bristol Hippodrome has similarly attracted a small audience. At the time of writing this article, 1,490 tickets are still up for sale. That means only 451 tickets have sold at the 1,941-capacity venue - just 23% of the venue's capacity.

James soared to stardom when he starred on Top Gear in the early 2000s alongside his co-hosts Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson. Express.co.uk has reached out to James May's representatives for a comment.

After the trio left Top Gear in 2015 following Jeremy's physical altercation with a BBC producer, they went on to produce a similar motoring review show on Amazon Prime, The Grand Tour. In September 2024, the trio called time on their working relationship, ending the 22-year-long partnership after nine years on the streaming service.

Despite his disappointing turnout, James May revealed that he is currently experiencing one of the busiest years of his life. In a new interview with the i Paper, he confessed that his work commitments have kept him occupied.

He told the outlet: "I've been thinking about my retirement since I was a teenager - 2025 was going to be my trial year, but I've been accepted to speak at a couple of history festivals and charity events.

"I've got two TV series, and then I'm doing a live show in Australia, New Zealand, and around the UK. This is the busiest year I've had for about a decade. I haven't had a day off in months."