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Following Matt LeBlanc’s announcement that he will leave the show after the next series, Top Gear has announced a new look line-up of hosts who are destined to cause comedic car chaos and take the world’s biggest motoring entertainment show to another level.
Lancashire lads Paddy McGuinness, the primetime entertainment host and comedian, and former Ashes-winning England cricketer and TV presenter Freddie Flintoff, will join motoring journalist and racing-driver Chris Harris in what promises to be one of television’s most explosive combinations of entertainment firepower and petrol-head fumes.
Different cast, more cars
And the all-British team were officially unveiled at a photocall on the banks of the River Thames in central London, flanked by a red Aston Martin DSB Superleggera and a blue Porsche 911 GT2RS.
READ: Matt LeBlanc's exit: Is the Top Gear job cursed?
In a move certain to unnerve health and safety chiefs, the trio will begin production on Series 27 of the BBC Brit (DStv channel 120) show in early 2019 - with their inaugural series premiering later in the year.
Top Gear bosses promise petrol-heads and fans that the car will remain the real star of the show but hint at an even further escalation of humour, jeopardy and insurance bills as they embark on some of the show’s biggest adventures to date.
Rory Reid, who has co-presented Top Gear since Series 23, will step down from the main presenting line-up but will remain part of the Top Gear family, along with Sabine Schmitz. He will continue to be the face of Top Gear’s companion Extra Gear - and will be at the heart of what will become a bigger digital presence for the show.
The next series of Top Gear, LeBlanc’s last as lead host, will debut early in 2019 on BBC Brit, before Paddy, Freddie and Chris premiere Series 27 later in the year.
