The iconic car show Top Gear is officially returning to screens. The BBC has confirmed that the project, which was put on hold for nearly four years, will be revived. This was reported by infohub.kz.
The news was announced by Ed Havard, the BBC's director of entertainment, during a panel discussion at the Edinburgh Television Festival, as reported by The Guardian. The show was paused after presenter Andrew Flintoff was involved in an accident on set in 2022. He flipped a three-wheeled vehicle and suffered serious facial injuries.
The name of the new host is being kept under wraps. Havard was directly asked about comedian and car enthusiast Jimmy Carr. "I'm not going to talk about talent today. Jimmy would be a great host, but I'm not going to discuss that today," Havard sidestepped.
Besides Carr, other media personalities are being tipped for the role: Joe Marler, former England rugby player and star of the reality show Celebrity Traitors; Jodie Kidd, supermodel and racing driver who has appeared on Top Gear multiple times and competed in races in Italy; Gordon Ramsay, the famous chef who has been a guest on the show and owns an impressive collection of supercars; and Rowan Atkinson, the iconic actor and passionate car enthusiast who, in season 17, set a lap time of 1 minute 42.2 seconds, topping the celebrity leaderboard at the time.
Top Gear is considered one of the BBC's most successful programs. The show gained its greatest popularity after a reboot in 2002 with hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. Since then, 240 episodes and 33 seasons have aired, including specials. The last episode was shown on December 18, 2022.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that Jeremy Clarkson had been diagnosed with cancer.