Clarkson will 'start again' after leaving Top Gear

He revealed his pain at leaving "Top Gear", a hugely successful show which draws more than 250 million viewers around the world, but said he would "pick up the pieces and start again".

The BBC last month announced it was not renewing Clarkson's contract after 12 years on the show, after the 55-year-old launched an unprovoked attack on producer Oisin Tymon.

"I have lost my baby but I shall create another," the presenter wrote in his column for the Sunday Times newspaper, where he revealed his shock at losing his job.

"I don't know who the other parent will be or what the baby will look like, but I cannot sit around any more organising my photograph albums."

Clarkson revealed that two days before the incident he had been told that a lump on his tongue was "probably cancer". He has since received the all-clear, but told the newspaper: "It was beyond-belief stressful, everything was going wrong, and then you know... there you go.

"But everybody has stressful days, and they manage to cope better than I did."

He said he had considered giving up television, but decided: "Let's stop being silly and pick up the pieces and start again... I just know I'm going to do another car show."

The remaining episodes of the latest "Top Gear" series were cancelled after Clarkson's suspension and a string of live auto shows around the world were dropped.