Chris Evans has finally confirmed who will join him and Matt LeBlanc on the rebooted version of ‘Top Gear’.
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There will be no less than six hosts on the BBC motoring show when it returns in May, after F1 pundit Eddie Jordan, YouTuber Chris Harris, journalist Rory Reid and racing driver Sabine Schmitz officially joined the line-up.
The new 'Top Gear' presenting team
Chris made the announcement on his Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Thursday (11 February), later sharing an official press shot of the new team altogether for the first time.
"Morning from the new Top Gear team. All present and correct and smelling of eau de petrol," he wrote.
Eddie - who once ran his own Formula One team which included drivers like Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill - is no stranger to being on camera, as he acted as the lead analyst on the BBC’s F1 coverage from 2009 to 2015.
Of joining ‘Top Gear’, he said: “I have such enormous respect for all my fellow presenters and I politely ask that they go easy on these old bones.”
Eddie Jordan is a former F1 team boss and pundit
Sabine and Chris were both previously rumoured to be joining the show last year.
She will be a familiar face to ‘Top Gear’ fans, having previously set a record lap time around the Nürburgring in a Transit van.
“I grew up next to the Nürburgring and have been racing for most of my life, so the chance to combine both driving and filming was too good an opportunity to pass up,” she said.
Chris added: “‘Top Gear’ is the thing that helped shape my life with cars, my perception of cars and my obsession with cars, and I’m raring to give it a go.
“I’m also quite gobby and happy to get into trouble. And if it all goes wrong, well, I can say I was once on Top Gear, and just head back to being that annoying small bloke off YouTube,” he added.
Sabine has already filmed some of the new series with Chris
Journalist Rory Reid was the host chosen from the public auditions Chris held after it was announced he would be taking over the show last year.
“When I submitted my 30-second audition tape, I knew the odds were very firmly against me,” Rory said.
“To be the only person to make it through the open audition process makes me immensely proud.
“I’ve been a ‘Top Gear’ fan for decades, but more than that, I live and breathe cars in a way that is perfectly compatible with the show.”
The show’s famous Stig will also return to the show.
The former 'Top Gear' trio of Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson
The show was previously hosted by trio Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, but their time on the show came to an end when Jeremy was fired after punching a producer in the face.
His co-hosts later followed him out the door, and the threesome will now launch their own Amazon Prime series later this year.
‘Top Gear’ will return to BBC Two on Sunday 8 May.