Chris Evans QUITS Top Gear!
It’s been a week of resignations, and it seems the main host of Top Gear didn’t want to be left out, as he took to twitter today to announce he was quitting the show!
Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.
— Chris Evans (@achrisevans) 4 July 2016
He had originally signed a 3 year deal, but it looks like the rather lacklustre ratings and negative press has taken it’s toil as he leaves his ‘dream job’.
So where does that leave the show? As we’ve said a number of times on the site, and on Geektown Radio, the new Top Gear overall wasn’t bad, but the studio segments were painful to watch. The official statement Evans released via the BBC read “I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last twelve months. I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause. I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.”
“Chris is stepping down from his duties on Top Gear. He says he gave it his best shot doing everything he could to make the show a success” commented Mark Linsey, Director, BBC Studios on Top Gear. “He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be.
The new series has so far notched up over 30m views in the UK alone and has already been sold to 130 territories worldwide.
I think this is probably for the best, and I suspect we’ll see Top Gear return next year with an altered line up. The surprise star of the revamp was Matt LeBlanc, who really seemed to do an excellent job, along with Rory Reid and Chris Harris. If they reduced the show back to just those 3 guys, you could have a really interesting new version of Top Gear.
