Recently, it was announced that former American TV star Matt LeBlanc, also known as Joey in the hit show Friends, is joining the cast of Top Gear, alongside Radio presenter Chris Evans.
However, the full cast list is yet to be confirmed, according to Cars Technica, “It’s widely believed that Evans and LeBlanc will be joined by car journalist Chris Harris and German racing driver Sabine Schmitz”.
In my eyes, he will never replace Clarkson, Hammond or May as the true presenters of Top Gear, but I’m sure he will do his very best. LeBlanc “will be the first non-British presenter of the show in its 39-year history when it returns on BBC2 in May” said the BBC via The Guardian.
The news was broken via Twitter:
“He is already familiar to Top Gear viewers, having appeared on the show twice, and currently sits at the top of the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car leaderboard with a time of 1:42:01” according to the Radio Times.
“Matt’s a lifelong fellow petrolhead and I’m thrilled he’s joining Top Gear,”
said Chris Evans to the BBC.
“As a car nut and a massive fan of Top Gear, I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this iconic show’s new chapter,”
said LeBlanc. BBC’s acting controller for entertainment commissioning, Alan Tyler called LeBlanc
“a class act and a brilliant signing”.
“Evans was named as Top Gear’s new host last year after the BBC opted not to renew Jeremy Clarkson’s contract in the wake of his much-publicised “fracas” with a Top Gear producer”.
LeBlanc isn’t new to presenting, “he also presented a spin-off called Top Gear: The Races, a capsule show highlighting some of the show’s epic clashes of cars versus other forms of transportation” according to USA today.
Matt spends some of his busy life in Britain shooting, as well as promoting his comedy show Episodes, in which he won a Golden Globe. “That show is expected to return for at least one more season, though it’s not clear when”.
It isn’t all bad news for our beloved Clarkson, as he signed a deal with Amazon Instant Video for a new car show “along with his two former co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May”.
Thinking outside the box 