Matt LeBlanc has threatened to leave Top Gear, putting the show in crisis for the second time this year. According to several reports, LeBlanc and co-host Chris Evans can not stand each other, which prompted the Friends star to ask the producers to pick between himself and Mr. Evans.
Top Gear is in shamble as Matt LeBlanc goes after Chris Evans. In a series of reports that surfaced this weekend, it appears that just one year after Jeremy Clarkson exited the BBC TV show amid countless rumors, scandals, and fights, the motoring program is once more facing an uncertain future.
LeBlanc replaced Clarkson, who was the face of the show from 2002 to March 2015. After getting fired, Clarkson and his former co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May teamed up with producer Andy Wilman to film The Grand Tour for Amazon Video.
According to the Sun, the Friends and Man with a Plan actor has made it clear, he no longer wants to continue presenting Top Gear if Evans stays on board. A source told the British publication:
“The big question now is who goes and who stays. The team does not gel at all, and the atmosphere between the presenters is decidedly frosty. It’s very much a picture of him – Chris – and them.
Matt has already indicated that he won’t continue on any further series if Chris remains a part of it. And he is far from the only one who isn’t happy. Chris is not encouraging when any of the others are doing their links.”
The source went on to say:
“On one occasion this month he even pretended to bump his head against a wall in frustration when Eddie Jordan kept fluffing his lines. He also seems to be jealous of the attention and praise which has been heaped on Chris Harris and Rory Reid in particular since the show began.
You would have thought that with his experience, he would help out those new to studio recording. But he doesn’t encourage them in any way. He just isn’t interested. He doesn’t even hang out with the others back stage and firmly keeps his distance from all of them at the aerodrome.”
However, a rep for the actor has stepped out to say that he has not yet “signed up for two more series already” and added that “nothing has been discussed or decided.” What is strange is that the representative had no comments on the fights between LeBlanc and Evans.
This is not the first time that the world is learning about the constant drama between Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc. Last year, producer Lisa Clark said that the duo had a frosty relationship and barely spoke to each other.
This controversy could not have come at a worse time, the show’s ratings were its lowest last week with 2.34 million viewers. The smallest audience ever recorded when Clarkson was around was 2.36 million eyeballs in June 2003. However, BBC boss Alan Tyler is pretending that all is great. He said:
“We are four episodes into the new Top Gear era with its new presenting line up, and remain really pleased with the way the series is performing. [Sunday] night’s episode was another great watch and yet again was easily the biggest show of the day on BBC Two. Being up against a major sporting event is always tough and that is partly why the series is performing so brilliantly on catch up and BBC iPlayer.”
