Life after Clarkson
British radio star Chris Evans reckons his new partnership with American actor Matt LeBlanc is the right line-up for the reboot of Top Gear, he tells TV Guide’s Julie Eley.
When former Friends star Matt LeBlanc was suggested as his copresenter in the new Top Gear line-up, Chris Evans had absolutely no doubt that he was the right choice.
The 50-year-old Evans, who has been brought in to head the new presenting team of Top Gear following the departure last year of the old trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May (after Clarkson was involved in a fracas with a producer), reveals: ‘‘I’ve always been a massive fan of Matt’s.
‘‘I’m a huge fan of Friends and know he is a major petrol head. I saw him on Top Gear the first time round. Also, he’s an international star, and this is an international show. It’s a big brand. Jeremy, Richard, and James are well known around the world, and I am not – that’s a fact.’’
Evans, who hosts the most popular breakfast radio show in the UK on BBC Radio 2, is clearly enjoying a blossoming ‘‘bromance’’ with LeBlanc, and has loved working with his American co-host.
‘‘It’s like a tennis match, batting things backwards and forwards. Matt has brought a real momentum with him, and it has immediately started to move the show forward. That is such a breath of fresh air. It’s like, ‘Thank God for that, he knows what he’s doing’,’’ Evans says.
‘‘The other thing about Americans is that they have an unbelievable work ethic, especially in the entertainment industry. Honestly, Matt is the best person we could have got to do the job. He is absolutely unbelievable.’’
Evans disputes the idea that the recruitment of LeBlanc has made Top Gear any less of a British show.
‘‘Of course, it is still a British show. It has its roots in Britain. There have been British stars in Friends, and Frasier had a British housekeeper.
‘‘It doesn’t matter. It’s more fun and more exciting because we’re different people, from different sides of the pond and we bring different things.
‘‘Also, Matt’s a bit of an Anglophile, I’m a massive Yank-ophile.’’
One change to the new series will be the fact that the car will be more centre stage in this version of Top Gear.
‘‘The car will be more of a star than it has been for the last few years – there’s no doubt about that. It’s moving back to the centre of the story. We are a new team, and the one thing we know about this programme is that the cars won’t let us down,’’ Evans says.
‘‘People are always interested in the cars for various reasons – what they look like, how fast they go, how economical they are, whatever. We get this constant stream of raw material – different cars every week. In the office, all you can see on people’s screens is a map, or a visa application, because it’s a lot about logistics and travel. The car bit is the easy bit!’’
But for all that, Evans admits that he is a diehard fan of the Clarkson version of Top Gear, and thinks it would be foolish to try to completely reinvent the wheel.
‘‘When I got this job, I watched every old episode back. I’m still amazed that I haven’t seen them all.
‘‘One will pop up and I’ll think, ‘Wow, I haven’t seen that one.’ I was struck by all the brilliant things they’ve done.’’
We can’t part without mentioning ‘‘Sick-gate.’’
Evans was pictured throwing up after being driven around the Laguna Seca test track in California by the German motor racing driver Sabine Schmitz.
The presenter jokes: ‘‘I’ve now been carsick more than anyone else in the world, it would seem!
‘‘It was with Sabine at the wheel. I wasn’t carsick driving myself. I would be sick again.
‘‘I challenge anyone not to be. I would pay for your flight to the Laguna Seca test track, and I defy you not to throw up yourself when she drives you down the corkscrew 12 times with five Gs either side.
‘‘It was hideous, horrible, and I would definitely be sick if I did it again!’’
Evans closes by underlining that it doesn’t matter who hosts Top Gear – the brand is so strong, it will endure come what may.
‘‘If you’ve got a show that has a lot of heat around it, people will always want to watch it. Let’s take ER, for example. As it grew George Clooney, it grew itself. Then Clooney left, but the show was hot enough to withstand that.
‘‘Top Gear is like that.’’