Joey revs up Top Gear
BBC sign Friends star to appeal to women - just don’t mention his drink-driving
FOR months there has been speculation over who will be Chris Evans’s co-hosts on the new Top Gear.
Yesterday one name was confirmed and took everyone by surprise – American actor Matt LeBlanc, 48.
Best known as the dim but likeable Joey Tribbiani in hit US sitcom Friends, he will join Evans to front the motoring series when it returns to BBC2 in May.
At the height of his fame on Friends he earned $1million an episode, but away from the cameras his life has been far from smooth, having been twice caught drinkdriving in his youth and being divorced after groping a stripper.
By picking the actor BBC bosses seem to be trying to woo female viewers to a programme that was once dominated by the blokey antics of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
It appeared to be working yesterday, with one woman tweeting: ‘Yay, finally a reason for me to watch Top Gear’ and another writing: ‘At first I thought nothing and nobody would pull me back to Top Gear. But Matt LeBlanc... you’ve done it handsome!’
As the first non-British presenter in Top Gear’s 39-year history, his appointment can also be seen as a plea for overseas viewers to stick with the show in the post-Clarkson era. It has long been one of the BBC’s most lucrative exports and there have been fears Evans does not have enough of a profile to win over foreign audiences.
Evans, 49, announced the news yesterday by tweeting a picture of the pair with The Stig, Top Gear’s unidentified helmeted driver.
LeBlanc has appeared on the show twice as a guest and last year presented a spin- off programme. He also holds the record for the fastest lap around the show’s track.
Evans said: ‘Matt’s a lifelong fellow petrolhead and I’m thrilled he’s joining Top Gear.’ LeBlanc, who is reportedly worth £41million and has a collection of supercars and 100 dirt bikes, said: ‘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.’
The announcement will be seen as good news for the new series of Top Gear, which has been dogged by reports of problems behind the scenes. The unveiling of other presenters is believed to be imminent, with motoring journalist Chris Harris – whom Evans pictured in a tweet yesterday – and German motorsport star Sabine Schmitz reported to be in the frame.
Clarkson, who was axed by the BBC for punching a producer, Hammond and May are working on a rival show for Amazon Prime. Friends – in which LeBlanc starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer – ran for 126 episodes between 1994 and 2004.
LeBlanc starred in a failed spinoff called Joey and now plays a fictionalised egotistical version of himself in BBC2 sitcom Episodes.