Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc is to be one of the new presenters of Top Gear when the motoring programme returns to BBC Two in May.

The US actor will be the show's first non-British host in its 39-year history.

"Matt's a lifelong fellow petrolhead and I'm thrilled he's joining Top Gear," said Chris Evans of his new on-screen colleague.

Additional Top Gear cast members will be confirmed shortly, the BBC 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," said LeBlanc. "What a thrill!"

Joey's motoring experience not taken into account

The 48-year-old is best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani in Friends and has more recently been seen, as himself, in BBC Two sitcom Episodes.

"Acting out our craziest car notions on screen is a dream job and I know we'll both be debating some epic road trip ideas," continued Evans in a statement.

"We can't wait to share what we've been up to on screen later this year."

LeBlanc has twice appeared on Top Gear on its popular "star in a reasonably priced car" segment and holds the record for the fastest ever celebrity lap.

Alan Tyler, the BBC's acting controller for entertainment commissioning, called LeBlanc "a class act and a brilliant signing".

Evans was named as Top Gear's new host last year after the BBC opted not to renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract in the wake of his much-publicised "fracas" with a Top Gear producer.

Clarkson subsequently signed up with streaming service Amazon Prime to present a new motoring show with Richard Hammond and James May, his former Top Gear co-presenters.

Tabloid editor turned broadcaster Piers Morgan is among those to have welcomed LeBlanc's appointment, calling him "a brilliant choice [with] huge global recognition" on Twitter.

LeBlanc himself hinted at his new role on Wednesday, telling his Twitter followers he had "very cool news coming in the next day or so".

Last year the actor presented Top Gear: The Races, a stand-alone spin-off made for BBC Store, the corporation's digital download service.

According to the BBC, he will join production on the new series of Top Gear "immediately".

Stephen Mangan, LeBlanc's co-star on Episodes, responded to the news by suggesting he is "The Stig" in the picture released with the BBC's press release.

"Still annoyed they made me wear that helmet," the British actor joked on Twitter.

Last year LeBlanc revealed he had "one more season of Episodes to shoot.... starting in April".

The actor won a Golden Globe in 2013 for his role in the sitcom, a co-production with Showtime, in which he plays an exaggerated version of himself for comic effect.

Steve Berry, who co-presented Top Gear in the 1990s, told BBC News that LeBlanc was "an odd choice", despite having "international recognition".

"It does seem odd that the BBC will use an actor in a factual entertainment show," he said, suggesting that the strength of the show's most recent line-up lay in the fact that they were "all experienced motoring journalists".

"When Jeremy Clarkson gives you an opinion you can respect it," he went on. "When an actor says that line, does it have that authority?"

Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc is to be one of the new presenters of Top Gear when the motoring programme returns to BBC Two in May.

Additional Top Gear cast members will be confirmed shortly, the BBC said.

What’s your first car memory?
A melange of my dad’s cars: Ford Anglia, Hilman Imp and the mighty Vauxhall Victor. Especially the priceless few occasions he and Mum picked up my sister and me from school on a Friday and took us for a weekend at the seaside.

Who taught you to drive, in what… and did you pass first time?
I was fortunate to be taught by a rather beautiful mum of one of my friends. It was all very Mrs Robinson – in my head, not hers! I passed first time, not long after my 17th birthday.

Tell us about your best car…
My best car ever was my first car. A Mini 1000. My mum bought it for me after Dad died. There was no way she could afford it, but she went into debt for the first, and last, time to get me on the road.

Tell us about your worst car…
My worst car by miles was a Dacia Denim. It was the most expensive car I’d ever bought, an estate so I could transport my mobile disco. It never worked from the moment I picked it up. It basically began to fall apart on a daily basis, then one day it burst into flames in the middle of the night.

What’s your current daily car?
A Land Rover Defender Adventure Edition. I really didn’t like it at first, but the kids fell in love with it, and so have I.

What’s the car you most wish you’d owned?
A McLaren F1. I have come to realise it’s the greatest car ever made.

What was the best drive of your life, and why was it so special?
The best drive of my life was the Mille Miglia. But not the actual race, the tribute that heads off a couple of hours before. My wife and I were in my old 1960 California Spyder, she was co-driver and didn’t look up or call a wrong turn for three whole days. Unforgettable. Unrepeatable. Heaven.

What’s your favourite road?
The Pacific Coast Highway, California.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in a car?
Volunteering as a passenger with Sabine at Laguna Seca. The rest is history.

What’s your favourite sitcom?
Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Favourite band?
On record – The Beatles. Live – AC/DC.

If you could buy just one car to last the rest of your life, what would it be?
A Bentley Corniche Convertible with chrome bumpers. In fact, I’ve been looking for one for ages.

Who’s your all-time favourite Formula One driver?
Jim Clark.

What car are you most looking forward to driving on TG?
All of them.

Who will be quickest around the TopGear track?
Sabine or Chris or maybe Matt or Rory. Definitely not me… or Eddie!

Who would be your dream guest for the next series of TopGear?
Jenson Button.

What’s in your rider?
Zip.

What motorsport event would you most like to compete in?
Monaco Historique. End of.

Front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive?
Just drive!

What else do you have a licence for?
Buses.

What’s your biggest fear?
Fear of being me forever. I would love to have a break.

What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone in a car and when?
I went at 200mph plus in the McLaren 675LT for one of our power tests.

F1, NASCAR or WRC?
WRC. It has the best drivers in the world.

Who in history would you most like to have been driven by?
That has to be Duncan Hamilton when he won Le Mans in the C-type back in 1953. Apparently, the fact they got to race at all was a miracle, let alone win the damn thing.

You have to drive from NYC to LA, you have four seats, who’s in the car with you, what’s on the iPod and what’s in the emergency snack cubby?
My wife and kids would be with me, so that’s four in all, plus me – it would be tight but brilliant. On the iPod are The Beatles, One Direction, Ronson, Buddy Holly, Abba, Queen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, ELO, Florence, Justin Bieber… shall I go on?

What’s your first car memory?
With my sisters on the backseat of my dad’s purple Ford Capri. He took the shortcut from Adenau to Nurburg on the Nordschleife. I can remember that I was really scared – first time in my life!

Who taught you to drive, in what… and did you pass first time?
My older sister taught me how to drive in my mum’s BMW 316i around the Nordschleife. I didn’t have a licence at that time, nobody really cared. On my 18th birthday, I got my licence without any problems. In fact, I tried to teach the driving instructor how to shift gears faster…

Tell us about your best car…
I love my Porsche GT3 RS 997, I used it as a ’Ring tool to drive passengers around the Nürburgring. It failed only once in five years.

Tell us about your worst car…
No comment… just that it was British!

What’s your current daily car?
A Ford Ranger Wildtrak in orange.

What’s the car you most wish you’d owned?
McLaren F1 or Porsche Carrera GT. The McLaren because it was designed by Gordon Murray, and the Carrera GT because it looks great in matte black.

What was the best drive of your life, and why was it so special?
My second win of the 24h Nürburgring in 1997. It was a hard-won fight. I went in and out the pits nearly every lap to change wet tyres for slicks or the other way around. The fight was against Chris Nissen, a former Group C racer. He did the same with the pit stops, but when I was on slicks he changed to rain tyres. At the end, the sun was shining and I entered the pits for the very last stint – on very hard wets. Chris Nissen went out on slicks and, in that lap, it started raining again, very heavily. That really made my day…

What’s your favourite road?
The one without traffic!

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in a car?
Too late on brakes, several times…

What’s your favourite sitcom?
I don’t watch much TV, but when I was young I watched Married… With Children quite a lot. In Germany it was called Eine schrecklich nette Familie.

Favourite band?
Queen.

If you could buy just one car to last the rest of your life, what would it be?
Mustang V8.

Who’s your all-time favourite Formula One driver?
Ayrton Senna.

What car are you most looking forward to driving on TG?
A car which can drive, swim and fly!

Who will be quickest around the TopGear track?
The fastest will be the one and only Stig!

Who would be your dream guest for the next series of TopGear?
George Clooney.

What’s in your rider?
Cold beer!

What motorsport event would you most like to compete in?
I would love to have been in the first Grand Prix at the Nürburgring back in 1927!

Front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive?
Rear-wheel drive, for sure, but all-wheel drive on my tractor!

What else do you have a licence for?
Motorbikes and a Bell helicopter.

What’s your biggest fear/phobia?
Big hairy spiders.

What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone in a car and when?
350kph in my friend’s Ferrari F12 on the German autobahn.

F1, NASCAR or WRC?
Nascar, because I like the show and the noise.

Who in history would you most like to have been driven by?
By Mr Bean in his Mini Cooper, especially on the roof sitting on a sofa! Legendary stuff…

You have to drive from NYC to LA, you have four seats, who’s in the car with you, what’s on the iPod and what’s in the emergency snack cubby?
I would share the car with three Moto GP Riders because they are always in a good mood. On the iPod, I would have Cologne carnival songs – they’re very funny and I can sing nearly every one. Oh, and our emergency snacks would be loads of cheese.