Matt LeBlanc May Quit Top Gear If Chris Evans Isn’t Fired

Guess you could say they’re not really friends.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
People photo
Share

0

Matt LeBlanc may perform his own personal Brexit and leave the BBC's Top Gear unless surly host Chris Evans gets the boot from the show, a new report from a British tabloid claims.

According to The Sun, sources claim LeBlanc has taken issue with Evans's general rudeness towards theTop Gear crew. In addition, they reportedly say LeBlanc finds the radio DJ-turned-car show host difficult to work with, and suggest the American actor will not come back for the next season of the show, scheduled to begin filming in September, unless Evans is let go.

"Matt’s indicated he won’t continue on any further series if Chris remains. He is far from the only one who is not happy," a source told The Sun. "The team does not gel and the atmosphere between the presenters is frosty.”

Representatives of the BBC told The Telegraph they would not respond to the allegations. A spokesperson for LeBlanc denied the report, stating there had been "no discussions" about the matter.

The latest version of Top Gear still hasn't found traction with viewing audiences. Ratings for the new show, which replaced the classic trio of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond with Evans, LeBlanc, and a rotating cast including Nurburgring queen Sabine Schmitz and auto journalist-slash-driftmeister Chris Harris, started out reasonably strong, but have fallen dramatically since the show's premiere several weeks ago. Recent episodes have consistently received viewership roughly matching the lower points of the Hammond/May/Clarkson era.

And Evans has received much of the criticism for the new TG's flaws. The Trump-haired host has seen his airtime cut significantly even in the handful of episodes between the premiere and today, much to the celebration of audiences. In spite of the sagging ratings and nigh-endless reports of Evans's dickery, however, BBC executives claim to be pleased with the way the show is doing.

Of course, an anonymous source in a Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid known for ire-stoking headlines like "1 in 5 Brit Muslims' sympathy for jihadis" and "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" that proudly proclaims "We pay for stories!" at the bottom of its articles isn't exactly the definition of reliable journalism. So until we have better confirmation, file this report under the wait-and-see column...and hope the BBC suits are smart enough to send Evans packing.

stripe
CulturePeople