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Matt LeBlanc Warns Jeremy Clarkson Fans Won’t Like New ‘Top Gear’

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 06:51 PST, Jun 7, 2016

Matt LeBlanc is certain his Top Gear track record will never be beaten, according to USA Today. The former Friends star said he is hosting the BBC show while knowing that no celebrity will ever beat his track record set in the show’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment in 2012.

In fact, Matt LeBlanc remembers that race to this day, down to the 10th of a second. It was revealed by LeBlanc himself, who spoke with USA Today from London, where he is currently filming new episodes of Top Gear as well as the final season of Episodes.

Top Gear, which is hosted by Matt LeBlanc and BBC presenter Chris Evans, has debuted its revamped version of the hit show. And now the 48-year-old actor teases new Top Gear episodes by saying the show’s crew has changed the layout of the track for the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment to make it “more exciting.”

In fact, there will be no “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment, as it was upgraded to the “Two Stars in a RallyCross Car” segment. However, Matt LeBlanc was quick to add that Top Gear is only adding to the race course, not changing it, and the classy tracks won’t be altered.

Matt LeBlanc and Evans were signed as Top Gear co-hosts earlier this year after the former host of the BBC show Jeremy Clarkson was fired following an incident in which he punched the show’s producer. And the former Friends star was added to the show’s lineup for a very good reason: to bring more humor into it.

Top Gear is watched by both pro auto enthusiasts as well as people who have no idea where an engine is located in a car. And it’s the humor and the simplicity of explanations, as well as entertaining segments, that allow the show to remain one of the BBC’s most popular franchises.

Apart from Matt LeBlanc, the revamped Top Gear also features such stars as German race-car driver Sabine Schmitz, the masked driver The Stig, YouTube personality Chris Harris, Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, and Top Gear’s first non-white on-air personality, Rory Reid.

The Clarkson-hosted Top Gear also featured Richard Hammond and James May, who left the show after the BBC fired Clarkson. But Matt LeBlanc claims that his Top Gear co-host Evans is “as funny” as Clarkson, Hammond, and May combined.

However, in one of his recent interviews, Matt LeBlanc warned that Jeremy Clarkson’s fans won’t enjoy the revamped Top Gear, according to the Evening Standard. But still, LeBlanc personally will do his best to make the show as funny as possible, he revealed.

“I like comedy; that’s what I do.”

In fact, one of Top Gear’s efforts to make the show more entertaining will be adding more two-wheeled action. Matt LeBlanc said there is enough room for this car show to have more “bike stuff” every now and then.

Matt LeBlanc and Evans have already filmed some of Top Gear’s classic road trips, including in such locations as Ireland, South Africa, and the beaches of England.

LeBlanc has seven Emmy nominations for Episodes, and his role of Joey Tribbiani in NBC’s Friends. The actor is set to appear in CBS’ new sitcom Man With a Plan this fall.

As for Matt LeBlanc’s favorite Top Gear experience so far, the actor revealed it was the trip they did in Morocco, where he drove the Ariel Nomad.

“I drove that thing for five days straight, all day, in the desert, down windy roads. I had a blast.”

And Matt LeBlanc also admitted that his life has changed after moving to London. Now the actor eats more fish and chips and has learned to like running in the rain.

[Photos by Jason Kempin & Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

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