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 “I ended up with 17 breaks and had to have a metal wire inserted through my toes to help the bone – there wasn’t any solid bone to heal against. It’s still broken.”

Tom Ford is in high spirits – despite completely shattering the bones in his foot late last year during filming for Fifth Gear.

“I was sitting at the doctors and it was like when you’re at the mechanics – they suck in through their teeth and say: ‘It’s gonna cost ya mate.’”

So what has Fifth Gear’s hairiest presenter learnt from his crash?

“The key point here is - don’t show off.”

Scars

Despite the crash in the modified Bedford Rascal van – which pushed his little toe to where his heel is – Tom was a little disappointed.

“It was a bit of a rubbish crash – can you say I barrel-rolled off a cliff or something?” says Tom.

Co-host and touring car star Jason Plato also suffered in front of the camera, when the Caparo T1 supercar he was testing for the show spontaneously caught fire at 150mph.

“I didn’t get grief about my toe-accident from Jason ‘Crispy’ Plato. But in all seriousness his accident was pretty horrible.”

So what has been the strangest experience since his infamous accident?

“People coming up to me showing their scars”, Tom says. “I get a lot of that – people randomly lifting up their shirts to reveal massive scars across their body.

“And filming at the Ace Café – a biker’s café – means I see some real scars.”

The show

So how is filming for the new series of Fifth Gear?

“Good – we did a camping feature in Wales where me and (co-host) Jonny took two Volkswagen campervans.”

But Jonny’s notoriously weak bladder posed a bit of a problem for Tom.

“It was quite funny, but not when Jonny leaned out of his campervan and started weeing all over the side of mine.”

Going round in circles

Tom is a thoroughbred petrolhead – he is jostled by enthusiastic diners at the Ace Café and talks to them like old friends.

“One of my highlights was the time I spent in Japan. Their car culture is a lot more inclusive than ours.

“Over there, it’s like having a car show every night, and I really dig it.”

And it’s obvious Tom really enjoys motoring – but not all things car-related.

“I’m a big car nut”, Tom explains. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be fast, just something unique – whether it’s because of technology or style, I get excited.

Read our exclusive Fifth Gear behind-the-scenes report

“But I’m not a big racer – I don’t see the point of going around in circles a lot.

“I don’t mind going out on a track when I’m on my own, but not racing. Maybe it’s because I’m not good at it.

As a motoring journalist, Tom still finds the time to light up his cars.

“When I started working as a journalist my favourite car was the 5.7-litre Vauxhall Monaro – I went through seven sets of rear tyres in one year.”

And his tyre-shredding antics have found a new target. “I’m a big estate fan”, Tom explains. “The one for me at the moment is the 572bhp Audi RS6 Avant. And, it’s relatively normal-looking.”

Criminals and celebrities

But underneath the toe-crushing tyre-shredding demeanour is a really humble guy.

“I don’t think we’re celebrities – we’re just on the telly. And there’s a big difference.

“I call it the 10 ‘o’ clock effect – after a few pints people will come up to say hello.

“I’m not a blagger – it’s almost embarrassing when people use their ‘celebrity’. You have to be careful what you do, because it will come back to haunt you.”

And what does Tom still have on his to-do list?

“I really want to do a feature on criminals with low-rider cars – it would be pretty scary.”

The new series of Fifth Gear is on Channel Five on Mondays at 8pm.

Read our exclusive Fifth Gear behind-the-scenes report