Jeremy Clarkson is set to learn his fate today as the outcome of an inquiry into the presenter’s conduct will be announced, although one newspaper is already claiming the ‘Top Gear’ host is set to be sacked by the BBC.
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According to the Telegraph, BBC director-general Lord Hall is preparing to dismiss the star after reviewing the contents of an internal investigation.
But a BBC spokesman insisted: "No decision has been made. When we have an outcome, we will announce it."
Jeremy Clarkson
The Telegraph also claim a ‘well-placed source’ has told them that senior BBC executives have been wooing Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Chris Evans in the hope he will agree to take over on ‘Top Gear’, and suggest Clarkson may sign for American network Netflix.
According to the newspaper, despite feeling he has been left with no alternative but to sack Clarkson, Lord Hall is expected to thank him for helping to build 'Top Gear' into one of the Beeb's most successful brands and praise him as a “brilliant broadcaster”.
Chris Evans is reportedly being lined up to replace Clarkson on 'Top Gear'
And if he is getting the boot, Clarkson, at least, appears to still be in the dark, after taking to Twitter to say he has yet to hear from his bosses at the BBC.
The controversial TV presenter was suspended from his job as host of ‘Top Gear’ earlier this month, following what was famously dubbed a “fracas” with a producer.
Since then, he’s rarely been out of the news, with a petition being set up almost immediately to keep him with the BBC motoring show, which didn’t take long to reach one million signatories.
To celebrate the milestone, the organisers of the ‘Bring Back Clarkson’ campaign stormed the BBC offices in a tank last Friday afternoon, with a fake Stig also present to hand over the signatures.
Following this, he took to Twitter to thank his fans for their support during his suspension, saying: “I'm very touched. We shall all learn next week what will happen.”
Jeremy went on to brand the BBC “f***ing b******s” in an expletive-laden rant at a charity auction, adding that ‘Top Gear’ “was a great show… and they f***ed it up.”
However, he was later insistent that he was only joking when he made his comments, claiming in his newspaper column: “It was all meant in jest and anyway it worked. By being brief, controversial and a bit sweary I woke the room up and the auction prize I was offering - one last lap of the Top Gear test track - raised £100,000.”
Prior to this incident, Clarkson has come under fire on a number of occasions over the past 12 months, most memorably after unaired footage surfaced online where he appeared to murmur a racist slur as he recited the children's rhyme 'Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Mo'.
Although Jeremy apologised for the clip, insisting the slur was a word he ‘loathed’, many offended viewers called for him to be sacked, and he later admitted that he was on thin ice with bosses at the Beeb, claiming: “I've been told by the BBC that if I make one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time, I will be sacked.”