The BBC have announced that Radio 2 breakfast show host, Chris Evans will take over the next series of Top Gear.
He replaces Jeremy Clarkson, who was released from his current contract following a “fracas” with show producer Oisin Tymon. Fellow presenters Richard Hammond and James May have followed their colleague out of the door.
Once the news broke, Evans tweeted: “First tweet as new Top Gear host. I would like to say Jeremy, Richard & James are the greatest. And NO I’m not leaving the R2 Breakfast Show.” The former TFI Friday presenter is an avid car enthusiast who was tipped early on to replace Clarkson, and has signed a three-year deal to lead the all-new Top Gear line-up.
In a statement, Evans said the programme was “created by a host of brilliant minds who love cars and understand how to make the massively complicated come across as fun, devil-may-care and effortless. When in fact of course, it’s anything but and that’s the genius of Top Gear’s global success. I promise I will do everything I possibly can to respect what has gone on before and take the show forward.”
Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most successful shows and is watched by some 350million viewers worldwide. The overseas sales of the programme are worth £50million a year to the BBC.
Kim Shillinglaw, controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, said: “I am so delighted that Chris will be presenting the next series of Top Gear. His knowledge of and passion for cars are well-known and combined with his sheer inventiveness and cheeky unpredictability, he is the perfect choice to take our much-loved show into the future. Chris is a huge fan of Top Gear and has great respect for the craft and work ethic of one of the best production teams in the world. He knows the phenomenal attention to detail it takes to make a single sequence of Top Gear, let alone a whole series. He is already full of brilliant ideas and I can’t wait for him to get started.”
The production of the new series of Top Gear will commence in the next few weeks. More details regarding transition will be released at a further date.
The final episode featuring Clarkson, Hammond and May is set to be broadcast on BBC Two at 8pm on Sunday 28th June. Watch the trailer below.
