Chris Evans has offered his support to ‘Top Gear’ co-host Matt LeBlanc, admitting he is the right person to lead the show following his exit.
The BBC Radio 2 DJ quit the motoring series last week, after its reboot received poor reviews and falling ratings.
Chris announced his departure on Twitter, later issuing an official statement, but has now spoken in more depth about his exit in his Mail On Sunday column.
Of Matt, he described him as “the captain ‘Top Gear’ truly needs going forward”, going on to say: “Not only does he eat, sleep, breathe and dream engines, propshafts and trail-braking, but the overwhelming quality that struck me about him is that he’s just such a pro.
The BBC have confirmed Matt will become the show’s main host when filming on the new series begins in September, with Rory Reid, Chris Harris, Sabine Schmitz and Eddie Jordan continuing in their supporting roles.
Chris also described working on ‘Top Gear’ as an “honour, privilege and a pleasure”, and admitted he was “entirely sad” to leave.
“It seems I may well have been a square peg in a round hole.”
He continued: “I am entirely sad ‘Top Gear’ didn’t work out – I would have loved to have carried on working on it.
The Telegraph has claimed that a planned Christmas special of the show will be scrapped ahead of the show’s return in 2017.
Take a look at some of Top Gear’s best bits in the gallery below...