Top Gear: Matt LeBlanc signs two-series deal

26 September 2016

Matt LeBlanc has signed a two-series deal with the BBC to continue hosting Top Gear.

The US star will be joined by Chris Harris and Rory Reid with regular appearances from Eddie Jordan, Sabine Schmitz and The Stig.

Co-host Chris Evans stepped down from the motoring show after one series.

BBC Two editor Patrick Holland said: "I am thrilled Matt LeBlanc is returning to Top Gear. He's a huge talent whose love of cars is infectious."

Warmth and passion'

He added: "I can't wait for the series to return to BBC Two next year."

Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, says: "Matt was hugely popular with Top Gear viewers last series with his humour, warmth and obvious passion for cars and for the show, so I couldn't be more delighted that he's agreed to come back and do more for us."

Harris and Reid will continue with their BBC Three show Extra Gear, whilst also appearing with LeBlanc on the main BBC Two series.

Top Gear's prospects were thrown into doubt in July when Evans, his co-host from the last series, announced he was stepping down.

Speaking after his departure, Evans said the series had proved LeBlanc and Top Gear "were made for each other".

LeBlanc was "the man" and a "total mensch", Evans said, scotching reports that the pair's relationship broke down during filming.

Evans' resignation followed falling ratings, with overnight audiences dropping from 4.4 million to 1.9 million viewers during the course of the 23rd series.

BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Evans said working on Top Gear had been an "honour, privilege and pleasure", and he had tried his best at the helm but it "was not meant to be".

Despite no sign of Dunsfold Park 's famous race track's absence from the BBC 's new trailer for Top Gear , the channel has confirmed it will "continue to be the home" of the show in the upcoming series.

The new Top Gear trailer gave fans a first look at the new series, with Matt Le Blanc in the driving seat after Chris Evans dramatically quit the new-look show after just one series.

The 90-second trailer shows the Friends actor, 49, using his Russian-built Avtoros Shaman to rescue some naked ramblers on the Isle of Man.

He is also cornered by police in Montenegro while driving an Aston Martin DB11 – wearing a tux.

But there was no sign of the Top Gear track, which has been driven on by many a celebrity - including Will Smith, Gordon Ramsay, and Simon Cowell - as part of the "star in a reasonably priced car" feature.

A spokesman said: "Dunsfold is the home of Top Gear and will continue to be so for the new series coming to BBC Two soon."

It is unclear how long the tarmac has left, as plans to re-use the track's surface in the development of 1,800 homes have been approved .

Top Gear returns next month, rejuvenated again, again, and there’s more good news—that silly ‘Star in a Rallycross Car’ segment is dead. It’s been replaced with a Toyota GT86. Things sound good.

According to the announcement, the show returns to BBC 2 March 5th, with no word yet when it will officially be available in the U.S., but you can wager it will probably be shortly thereafter.

Coming to the rejuvenated show is the new leading lineup of Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid and Chris Harris apparently laughing next to a bleeding Aston Martin DB11. The silly rallycross celebrity segment from last season apparently left with Chris Evans, and the new show has the stars tooling around the racetrack in a Toyota GT86, according to The List.

I’m excited for the season. It seems the two main things the last series struggled with are gone and all traces of them wiped. The consensus around these parts was that Matt LeBlanc is good, Rory Reid is good, and Chris Harris is good. Also, the Toyota GT86 is good. Let’s hope the new show is the sum of these parts.

6 March 2017

Despite largely positive reviews from fans, the return of Top Gear failed to impress in the ratings as it was seen by nearly two million fewer viewers than its series debut last year.

However, the BBC Two motoring programme was up against the penultimate episode of BBC One's popular period drama Call The Midwife in the Sunday 8pm timeslot.

Top Gear, which has been revamped with Matt Le Blanc at the helm alongside co-hosts Chris Harris and Rory Reid, was watched by an average of 2.8 million people, according to overnight data, while Call The Midwife was seen by an average of 8.9 million.

These initial figures do not account for those watching on catch-up at a later time.

Top Gear's series launch in 2016 - with Chris Evans and Le Blanc as new presenters following the departure of long-running hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May - had scored 4.4 million viewers overnight.

Fans praised the new-look show on social media, with former Friends actor Le Blanc as Top Gear's leading man.

Sunday's instalment, which featured a trip to Kazakhstan and an interview with Scottish actor James McAvoy, prompted viewers to describe the new series as a "massive improvement" and that it had made "a promising start".

"Top Gear is back how it should be!" enthused one viewer on Twitter, while another joked the show "was so sweet I could have licked it".

LeBlanc, 49, was called "a natural" as a presenter and several people said the programme was better without Evans, who quit after the last series, saying he gave it his best shot but that it was "not enough".

Last year's series opener was largely savaged by viewers, mainly due to Evans's hosting style.

The decline in audience numbers follows a pattern in recent years, as the motoring magazine show scored higher viewers on average for its series openers with Clarkson, Hammond and May in the driving seat.

The first episode of Top Gear's 2015 series was seen by 5.3 million, and the overall average for the trio's final five years fronting the programme - between 2011 and 2015 - saw an average of 5.2 million viewers per debut episode for every new series.