EXCLUSIVE - Spoiler alert! The Grand Tour secrets revealed: Jeremy Clarkson jumps from a helicopter to rescue 'The Queen' and 'Charlize Theron is killed by a LION' in new £160million show on Amazon Prime

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Jeremy Clarkson jumps from a helicopter to rescue the 'Queen' in a breathless stunt in his new testosterone-pumped car show The Grand Tour, MailOnline can reveal.

The ex-Top Gear host, 56, launches a daring special forces-style mission to save a lookalike of the monarch in what a show source describes as one of the series' most thrilling scenes.

In Hollywood-style footage shot at a secret desert military training camp in Jordan, Clarkson frees 'Her Majesty' then 'obliterates' an old Mercedes in a hail of live ammunition fire to celebrate.

In keeping with the volatile formula that won Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May a global audience of 350 million on Top Gear, the testosterone-fuelled action of their new show is replete with the same sense of shock and awe.

Big budget stunt: Jeremy Clarkson, centre with co-stars Richard Hammond, left, and James May, right, jumps from a helicopter to rescue a Queen lookalike in new show The Grand Tour

Action packed: In high octane scenes shot at a military training camp in Jordan, Clarkson rescues Her Majesty by 'obliterating' an old Mercedes. Pictured: Hammond, left, wearing the tiara worn by the Queen lookalike and Clarkson, right, covered in blood

Sinking cars in the sea: The new high powered show was filmed in 15 countries with 80 crew and has cost a reported £160 million to produce. Ex Top Gear host Clarkson, pictured with Hammond, is reportedly earning a £10 million salary, compared to his £1.5 million with the BBC  

In the scene filmed at an army base base deep in Jordan, called Operation Desert Stumble, a burly Clarkson, swathed in camouflage combat gear, heroically abseiled from the chopper.

Unfortunately, he aborted the drop 'when his trousers fell down in mid air' - weighed down by the hand grenades and ammunition hanging from his belt. 

The action-packed sequence, shown to 350 audience members at a live filming of the show in Johannesburg, South Africa, showed the motley trio battling it out with the deadliest elite fighters in the world in a string of desert challenges.

Hammond was later pictured wearing the tiara worn by the 'plummy voiced lookalike' Queen and and Clarkson was pictured covered in blood and dust.

Despite the very real danger the troupe appear to be putting themselves in to convince their fans to shell out £79 for an Amazon Prime membership, a show source said the result is 'absolutely hysterical'.

They described the stunt as an 'original and cheeky way of paying tribute to the Queen in her 90th birthday year, which is exactly what we have come to expect from the boys'.

The source said: 'Perhaps the funniest moment is when Richard and James dive through an open window at a camp, followed by Jeremy whose bulk and height means he gets absolutely stuck and can't make it. 

Rescue mission: The breathless scene in which Clarkson, pictured, jumps out of a chopper, was filmed in the Jordan desert and shown to a live audience in Johannesburg, South Africa

Daredevils: The ex-Top Gear trio pull out all the stops, putting themselves in real danger, like the high-speed car chase above, to convince fans to pay £79 for Amazon Prime membership

Big draw: The 12-episode series, starring Clarkson, pictured, sees its massive branded tent moving between 15 locations including Barbados, Jordan, Dubai, Namibia, Italy, Germany, California, Morocco, Tennessee, Finland, Holland - and Whitby in Yorkshire

'So he has to give up and walk around the building instead. He looks pretty humiliated and it is good to see him bearing the brunt of the joke for a change.

'After the Queen is rescued, the guys talk about whether their ammo is real or not.

'May or maybe Richard says, "No of course it wasn't, they were dummy bullets".

'So Jeremy decides to check it out, aims his gun at a very old Mercedes and just completely obliterates it with bullets pumped from his automatic weapon.

'That went down well with the live audience who found it unexpected, pretty shocking and extremely funny.'

The 12-episode series to be aired on Amazon Prime next Friday (Nov 18) sees its massive branded tent and crew travel to 15 locations including Barbados, Jordan, Dubai, Namibia, Italy, Germany, California, Morocco, Tennessee, Finland, Holland - and Whitby in Yorkshire. 

Amazon is reported to have paid for 36 episodes of The Grand Tour across three years, at an estimated £4.5 million a show, about ten times more than the cost of a Top Gear episode.

The series' six-minute long opening sequence features 150 custom cars and six jet planes, as well as acrobats and stilt-walkers. The cars include a Bugatti Veyron (£1.4 million) and a Rolls-Royce Phantom (£750,000).

The entire Mad Max-style segment, filmed in the Californian desert with 2,000 extras, cost £2.5 million to make. 

Chemistry: The series' six-minute long opening sequence features 150 custom cars and six jet planes, as well as acrobats and stilt-walkers. The cars include a Bugatti Veyron (£1.4 million) and a Rolls-Royce Phantom (£750,000). Pictured from left to right: Hammond, Clarkson and May during filming in the desert

Revved up: Stunts from the show were filmed all over the world including Barbados, Jordan, Dubai, Namibia, Italy, Germany, California, Morocco, Tennessee, Finland, Holland - and Whitby in Yorkshire

Clarkson's reported £10 million salary for fronting the new show – around £830,000 per episode – makes him Britain's highest paid TV star. Pictured: Filming in Morocco

Filmed on location: Episodes were recorded in a massive tent in front of a studio audience of 350 people like the one pictured where the audience was shown Charlize Theron being 'killed by a lion' in a spoof sketch and James May doing 'doughnuts' in Soweto

One shoot was aborted after the weight of the hand grenades and ammo attached to Clarkson's belt pulled down his trousers mid-air. Pictured: Clarkson, 56, filming an action scene for The Grand Tour

In a coup, the series persuaded Hollywood names such as Charlize Theron (above) to risk humiliation and appear as guests

Another show stunt was filmed in the iconic South African township Soweto where May, 52, was dispatched to probe the illegal, underground motorsport of 'spinning' - an outlawed craze which sees drivers dragging their cars at high speed until their tyres are shredded.

Soweto alone is said to have 10,000 regular spinners whose skill behind the wheel makes them local celebrities. Members of the spinning gangs were invited to join the live studio audience.

'May wanted to throw up after being one of the spinner's passengers,'  source revealed. 'He clearly didn't enjoy the experience and appeared to have drawn the short straw.'

The popular trio are making their much-hyped return to TV after Clarkson was sacked from Top Gear and the BBC for punching a producer in a row over a cold meal. 

In a massive coup, the adrenaline-fuelled series has persuaded Hollywood names to risk humiliation and appear as guests.

They include Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron who was seen by the South African audience being 'hunted by a lion'.

The source explained: 'The tent has a massive gauze window which overlooked the bare valley behind the guys and Jeremy announced that he was going to have the crowd's favourite local celebrity fed to a lion.

'They saw a guy dressed as a lion chasing a blonde woman, who looked like Charlize Theron, and then bring her down as a lion would in a kill in the wild. 

The popular trio are making their much-hyped return to TV after Clarkson was sacked from Top Gear and the BBC for punching a producer in a row over a cold meal. Pictured: Hammond with an armoured car

Other features of the show included the testing of an 800 horsepower Aston Martin Vulcan and a quiz called 'Bruce' in which members of the on-set audience faced 'humiliating punishments' for failing to answer correctly

'It was all over very quickly, and it was funny and shocking at the same time because Charlize is such a big star. Jeremy just said to the crowd: "Oh sorry, she's dead."

'Then the show moved on as if nothing had happened. It was typically Jeremy – a very cruel, deadpan sort of humour.'

The South African set was given an 'Out of Africa' feel with the tent adorned with colonial-era furniture, antique maps and leather travelling trunks. 

Other features of the show included the testing of an 800 horsepower Aston Martin Vulcan and a quiz called 'Bruce' in which members of the on-set audience faced 'humiliating punishments' for failing to answer correctly.

The source said: 'One poor guy who had a lovely mane of fair hair had a runway shaved down the middle of it by James May with an electric razor for not knowing how to answer a really impossible question. 

During live filming in Johannesburg, a man dressed in a lion suit, pictured, chased down and pretended to kill Oscar winning actress Theron

'He was apparently going to a wedding the following day, so I am not sure how he felt about that.

'Another woman had her mobile phone microwaved - she was literally begging Jeremy for her SIM card to be saved, but he wouldn't let her have it. 

'It was really dreadful and funny and uncomfortable to watch it happening and then she was handed this little piece of melted plastic. The smell was horrendous and everyone felt very sorry for her.'

Clarkson's reported £10 million salary for fronting the new show – around £830,000 per episode – makes him Britain's highest paid TV star.

His pay is more than six times more than his £1.5million-a-year salary at the BBC. Hammond, 46, and May are reportedly being paid £600,000 per episode.

It was believed said to cost £36,000 to ensure each presenter had a steak dinner waiting for them at the end of each day. Pictured: Hammond, May and Clarkson in Africa

The Amazon Prime show, had a crew of 80 at a cost of £3.2million. They took production to 15 countries, staying in a total of 1,500 hotel rooms, and spending £270,000 on bed and breakfast alone.

But despite the massive budget, Clarkson is confident Amazon will turn a profit. He said: 'Do the maths. Look at our previous audience around the world - 350million.

'If just one per cent of that ­previous audience thinks 'I want to watch those three' and spends £79, that's £276m.'

The Grand Tour is available in weekly episodes through Amazon's online Prime Video service from next Friday 18 November.