The BBC has confirmed this morning that the next season of Top Gear will premiere in 2017 and it will see Matt LeBlanc replace Chris Evans as the main host after LeBlanc signed a two-series deal for an estimated salary of $2 million dollars.
Chris Harris and Rory Reid are also confirmed to join the cast but have yet to sign a contract. Appearances by German driver Sabine Schmitz and Irish motorsport Eddie Jordan are also confirmed with the occasional celebrity guests lineup still at work.
LeBlanc On The Driver Seat
LeBlanc, best known for his role as Joey in the series "Friends," will be taking over the driver's seat after Evans announced he is stepping down after the series finale of Top Gear's last season. It is also a good decision for BBC as viewers didn't really like Evans at all and would rather see LeBlanc take over.
Unlike Evans, who was dubbed to be working like a robot, LeBlanc has been very popular among viewers of Top Gear with his humor, closeness with other casts, passion for cars and the program as a whole.
"I'm excited that Matt LeBlanc will return to Top Gear. He is a talented guy and his love for cars is contagious. I'm looking forward to next year's Top Gear program at BBC and I am so happy that has agreed to come back and continue working with us," said Patrick Holland, Channel Editor for BBC Two.
Returning to Top Gear and assuming the main host role could see LeBlanc working triple time and juggling TV shows. He is currently working on the fifth and final season of the "Episodes," which is scheduled to air early 2017 and his new CBS sitcom “Man with a Plan,” which will debut on October 24. If all goes well, LeBlanc will be seeing himself as one of the top stars in television today.
All's Well With Evans
Rumors circulated the Evans and Leblanc are not getting along well on the set and is one of the reasons why the former left. However, Evans dismissed all these rumors as he has nothing to say but good words for Leblanc and the rest of the team.
BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Evans said working on Top Gear had been an honour, privilege and pleasure, and he had tried his best at the helm but it was not meant to be.
While he is not meant to be, he strongly believe that LeBlanc and Top Gear "were made for each other". LeBlanc was "the man" and a "total mensch", Evans added.
Top Gear Ratings
After former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond left the show last year due to a controversial fight, Top Gear's rating had never been they way it used to. Its debut achieved a lackluster 4.4 million, the lowest audience view of the program for a decade and it even plummeted to an average of just two million views over all. However, a continuous increase of social media queries show that the audience love LeBlanc and may be the key for the next season's redemption.
Leblanc and the rest of his trio, Harris and Read, will have to compete on the attention as former Top Gear host was signed by Amazon Prime for "The Grand Tour," which will air on November 18.
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