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‘Matt LeBlanc And Top Gear Were Made For Each Other,’ Says Chris Evans

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 16:35 PST, Jul 18, 2016

Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans missed the wrap party dedicated to the end of the Top Gear season, according to the Daily Mail. The hosts of the all-new BBC show didn’t show up for the party organized for the cast and crew at a London bar.

However, presenters Chris Harris and Rory Reid were the good guys and were seen outside the exclusive bar. Ratings of the most recent episode of Top Gear co-hosted by Matt LeBlanc, Evans, Harris, and Reid surprised with its rather poor viewership, scoring only 2.3 million viewers.

So Matt LeBlanc and Evans decided to be the bad guys while BBC bosses are discussing the show’s future. But it appears that both LeBlanc and Evans had legitimate reasons to miss the event, according to a BBC spokeswoman.

“All presenters were invited to the wrap party but Chris had to be up early for the R2 Breakfast Show the following day and Sabine Schmitz, Eddie Jordan, and Matt LeBlanc were also unable to attend as they were not in London.”

In fact, Top Gear has been so bad in terms of its ratings that it was even beaten by a repeat of the Antiques Roadshow. And Matt LeBlanc claims it’s Evans’ fault that they can’t make the all-new series as successful as it once was, complaining that Evans is rude with production staff and that it’s difficult to host the show with him.

BBC viewers have repeatedly noticed the “forced” nature of on-screen conversations between Matt LeBlanc and Evans, so the differences between them can be clearly seen. And apparently, BBC entertainment boss Kate Phillips is expected to hold talks about the show’s future later this summer.

In his interview with The Sun, a source close to the BBC said Evans has annoyed a vast majority of the crew with his “behavior and by being a control freak.” In fact, the source added that BBC bosses think Matt LeBlanc is more important for the show’s future thanks to his popularity with audiences.

“He’s now going to be told there will be changes and if he doesn’t like it then he should go.”

The final episode of the current season aired on BBC 2 last Sunday. According to numerous reports, there won’t any talks about Top Gear‘s future until the end of July, so that BBC bosses have more time to analyze the show’s ratings around the world.

But the June 26 episode of Top Gear co-hosted by Matt LeBlanc and Evans brought 2.3 million viewers in overnight ratings. It sure seems like Top Gear‘s ratings are gradually falling, with the episode before that scoring 2.4 million, falling from 2.8 million for Episode 2 and a whopping (as for the new season) 4.1 million for Episode 1.

And it appears that Matt LeBlanc cannot continue to host the show unless the BBC presenter is fired. In fact, the former Friends star has reportedly threatened to quit the series.

It looks like the BBC is out of ideas on how to refuel Top Gear fans’ interest to the show after firing the previous host Jeremy Clarkson for punching the show’s producer last year, according to One MK. And while the show’s ratings continue to fall, the BBC attempts to attract more viewership with big names.

But before Evans could be fired, he took the initiative to quit the show, according to the Daily Mail. Not only did Evans realize that he wasn’t the best fit for the show, calling himself “a square peg in a round hole,” but he only had positive things to say about Matt Le Blanc, and recommended him as the future of Top Gear.

“For me, he is the man. He is the captain Top Gear truly needs going forward, the perfect torso for the rest of TG‘s limbs.”

Evans went on to say that Matt Le Blanc “eats, sleeps, breathes and dreams engines” and that he is a true professional in every sense of the word.

“The simple truth is [Matt Le Blanc] and Top Gear were made for each other.”

For its finale episode this season, the BBC invited Patrick Dempsey and Greg Davies for the Stars in a Rallycross Car segment as Matt LeBlanc tested his brand new Porsche 911 R and Evans tested his MGB Roadster.

Opinions about Top Gear‘s future are quite mixed, with many – especially Evans – believing that Matt LeBlanc as the only host of the series could probably save it from plummeting ratings next season.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for TNT LA]

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