Jeremy Clarkson"s girlfriend was not impressed by his "horrid" behaviour towards contestants on "Who Wants to Be a ...

No-nonsense quizmaster: Jeremy Clarkson is hosting seven episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on ITV to celebrate the show"s twentieth anniversary

Jeremy Clarkson has admitted his girlfriend told him to stop being "horrid" to contestants while hosting "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

The petrolhead Pointless fan has been recruited by ITV as question master for one week of episodes to celebrate the popular show"s twentieth anniversary.

Keen that only worthy contestants appear on the show, Clarkson said he made a promise to himself to "snarl and snap at contestants who shouldn"t really be there".

And the 58-year-old"s no-nonsense approach to quizzing on the first of seven episodes, which aired on Saturday night, did not go down well with his other half.

The car fanatic, who divorced his second wife Frances Cain in 2014, made his first red carpet appearance with his new girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 46, in September.

He wrote in his Sunday Times column: "I always said if I"d been in Tarrant"s shoes, I"d snarl and snap at hopeless contestants for wasting everyone else"s evening.

"I tried it on the first show and afterwards my girlfriend was cross with me because I"d been "horrid"."

Clarkson making his first red carpet appearance with his new girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 46, in  London in September

Clarkson believes the much-loved mammoth quizzing show should be celebrating "the well-read and the bright", and perhaps even those who just strike lucky.

"Stupid people who just want enough for a bit of decking in the garden should be told to get lost," he wrote in his column.

"You don"t see hunchbacked greasy young women on Britain"s Next Top Model, so why should numbskulls be allowed on Millionaire?" 

Clarkson"s hosting style was both praised and criticised by viewers at home after the first episode was broadcast.

Many on Twitter slammed him for being "rude and insulting" to contestants and letting his "massive ego" get in the way.

But others thought he was "amazing" and "funny."  

Dividing opinion: Clarkson"s hosting style was both praised and slammed by people on Twitter 

Some said he was "rude and insulting" to contestants and let his "massive ego" get in the way

Clarkson thinks the reason Millionaire was taken off air in 2014 was that viewers grew tired of watching people walk away with large sums with seemingly little effort.

"They had to answer five quick-fire questions that even a toddler could get right and then they had a guaranteed £1,000," he wrote.

"That"s £1,000 for knowing that Abba were Swedish and the first man on the moon was not Joe Pasquale."

The show, previously hosted by Chris Tarrant, requires contestants to answer 12 questions of increasing difficulty - and the final one wins the million-pound jackpot.

Other viewers at home thought the car fanatic was  "amazing" and "funny" in Chris Tarrant"s shoes

Along the way they can use three lifelines to help - 50/50, phone a friend or ask the audience - and a fourth has been added for the anniversary episodes: ask the host.

Clarkson admitted he eventually got the hang of the format of the show, which was filmed over four days in Manchester.

Gone are the days of him squinting to read the Autocue and straining to hear what contestants are saying.

And the expression he will pull if he loses a contestant thousands of pounds if they use their "ask the host" lifeline? He"s been practising it in front of the mirror.

Catch up on the first episode here.