RUMOURS THAT HAVE DOGGED HIM FOR YEARS
HE’S always been one to quit before he gets pushed. Chris Evans’s first wife Carol McGiffin says that when it became clear that she was leaving him, he virtually elbowed her out of the way so that he could exit first.
‘He stopped me, saying, “no, you’re not leaving, I’ll go”, and for a moment it was like a race to get out first, both getting stuck in the door. He took nothing except the keys to the Porsche and disappeared,’ she said.
The broadcaster, who at 50 is no longer an enfant terrible, seems to have a genuine horror of confrontation, compromise and seeing out one’s obligations.
He quit Radio 1’s flagship breakfast show in 1997 when, after weeks of unprofessional behaviour, he decided that he needed more time off.
Four years later, he did the same at Virgin Radio. Mr Justice Lightman, who found against him in a High Court case brought by Virgin Radio, noted: ‘Despite his confident front he is very insecure in himself, and as a consequence frequently (but not invariably) has recourse to any means (legitimate or otherwise) to avoid confrontation or unpleasant or unpalatable situations.’
In plain English: When the going gets tough, Evans bolts.
And so he did yesterday, quitting the revamped Top Gear.
Bad ratings, terrible reviews and the unwelcome appearance of decades-old allegations of sexual harassment were enough to see him skip for the hills.
A fractious working relationship with Hollywood smoothie Matt LeBlanc also played its part.
As many former friends and colleagues will attest, there is only room for one star of any show which includes Chris Evans, and that is the ginger one himself.
Some of them add that he is an unconscionable bully to boot – more of which later.
While Evans chose Twitter to pass on his message, his boss Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, made his own statement.
Evans ‘says he gave it his best shot’, it read. ‘He [Evans] 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.’
There was not a single word of praise for the undoubtedly hugely talented star – but then, in the end, he didn’t deliver anything other than masses of bad publicity. The ratings started promisingly enough, but by the series finale on Sunday had dropped to a low of 1.9million.
BBC bosses had been delighted that Ferrari-loving Evans – highly respected for his success at Radio 2 in recent years – was willing to take on the job.
FROM the start, though, there were problems over who was driving this vehicle. Producer Lisa Clark quit after five months amid allegations of bullying by Evans. She has never spoken out, but her husband Dan McGrath, who worked on the Radio 1 breakfast show with him, wrote online: ‘It’s just so sad that nothing has changed over the last 15 years... (Leopards & spots).
‘Does he still believe, even at the age of 50, it’s worth being properly s **** y to people to get the results he wants? Given our recent experience... I guess so.’
Then in April this year, Evans was said to have reduced an employee on his radio show to tears, screaming until an engineer intervened.
At the time, former friend John Revell, who started TV company Ginger Productions with Evans, said: ‘He can be absolutely vile. He’s like a spoilt child. If you say no to him he tends to lose his rag. I think BBC management are scared of him.’
Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan tried to dampen the burgeoning row, commenting: ‘The assertion that Chris Evans’s behaviour at Radio 2 since beginning work at Top Gear has been in any way below BBC acceptable levels is completely untrue.’
Unfortunately, still more serious allegations would surface.
Evans has always been known as a shameless exhibitionist – his first job was as a Tarzan-o-gram stripper in Warrington. But this weekend it emerged that he is to be questioned by police over sexual assault claims, after a former colleague complained about him. ‘The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s,’ a police spokesman said.
Back then, he was notorious for appearing on screen almost naked as part of his obnoxious broadcasting style. People who remember him say that he was also well known for ‘flashing’ men and women off screen, however – and some say that what happened amounted to bullying and sexual harassment.
Earlier this year an anonymous former colleague said that Evans had flashed her ‘almost every day for two years’ and that she was ‘bullied’ by him after rejecting his advances.
‘He used to get his penis out every time I saw him,’ she said. ‘He’d either just get it out, or he’d walk into a room naked.’
The comments were prompted by another ex-colleague of Evans accusing the presenter of exposing himself on the set of The Big Breakfast.
Steven D Wright said Evans ‘dropped his towel and stood stark b ****** naked for ten minutes while I prepped his next iv [interview] ... I looked down at it then continued talking. I could tell he was annoyed I never “reacted”.’
AND listeners with long memories will recall the morning in 1996 when he grilled his on-air Radio 1 assistant and sometime girlfriend Holly Samos about whether she’d slept with a man named Kevin.
‘I’m not going to say anything at all,’ said Holly, clearly embarrassed.
‘Well, there’s no point you being here, is there?’ Evans asked.
The exchange prompted complaints from listeners who found it nasty rather than entertaining.
Evans has since tried to excuse his behaviour by explaining that those years were ‘party time’ for him – and that people behave oddly at parties.
(This much is true; I met Evans once at an awards show after-party and within seconds he had, unbidden, put his hands into my mouth and was asking if he could check my gums. odd hardly covers it.)
now, though, he claims that he is the victim of a witch-hunt which is upsetting his third wife natasha and their two young children.
‘Yes, I lose my rag,’ he told this paper in May. ‘But not like I used to. I used to be a big shouter and screamer. But I don’t bully people. And I didn’t get my willy out.’