BBC to bring back Top Gear amid speculation about show’s next presenters

Motoring series to return four years after Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff suffered serious injuries in crash during filming

Top Gear, the long-running motoring show that has been off air since its co-host Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was seriously injured in a crash during filming almost four years ago, is to return to the BBC, the broadcaster has confirmed.

After Flintoff’s accident at Dunsfold aerodrome in Surrey, the BBC said the series would be “rested” for the foreseeable future.

The BBC’s director of entertainment, Ed Havard, confirmed the news of its return at a panel event at the Edinburgh TV festival on Thursday. “There has been a lot of speculation about this and we can confirm that Top Gear is coming back,” he said.

Havard refused to be drawn on who would host the show amid reports that the comedian and presenter – and a known car enthusiast – Jimmy Carr was in the frame. “I’m not going to talk about talent today,” he replied to questions. “Jimmy would be a great host but I won’t be discussing that today.

“We will have more information on Top Gear shortly,” Havard added.

Carr was a guest on Top Gear in 2004, and has said: “It’s one of the biggest shows in the world. It’s a global phenomenon.”

The former England rugby player and Celebrity Traitors star Joe Marler is also reportedly being considered to host.

The model Jodie Kidd is another rumoured contender. Kidd has appeared on Top Gear in the past, and after qualifying for a racing licence, began racing in Italy. She has also hosted various automotive shows including Channel 5’s The Classic Car Show, Chubb Insurance’s classic car podcast, and her own YouTube channel, Kidd in a Sweet Shop.

Others who have featured in speculation include the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who has appeared on Top Gear several times and owns an extensive collection of cars, and the actor Rowan Atkinson, another car enthusiast who appeared during series 17, where he set a lap time of 1min 42.2sec, making him the fastest celebrity on the leaderboard at the time.

Top Gear began in 1977 and became one of the BBC’s biggest hits in the hands of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May in the 2000s.

Clarkson’s contract was not renewed at the end of the 22nd season, after he punched a producer. He later issued a formal apology . Clarkson’s co-hosts also left after his departure, with the trio then signing up for another motoring show, The Grand Tour, on Amazon Prime Video.

They were replaced by the broadcaster Chris Evans and the Friends star Matt LeBlanc. Evans left after just six episodes. The show also received criticism after LeBlanc and a rally driver performed “doughnuts” near the Cenotaph war memorial in London’s Whitehall.

Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris took over in 2018.

Flintoff was taken to hospital with facial and rib injuries when the Morgan Super 3 he was driving – an open-topped three-wheeled car – flipped upside down and skidded on the tarmac before coming to a stop. The BBC later reached a financial settlement with the England cricket captain, an agreement reportedly worth about £9m . He has revealed he was deeply affected by the crash and did not leave his house for six months other than to attend medical appointments.

In the Disney+ documentary Flintoff, released last year, the presenter admitted that after the accident, he did not think he had it in him to “get through”. Flintoff said his then three-and-a-half-year-old son Preston “wouldn’t come near me”. “I think it frightened him, my face; it frightened me. That was heartbreaking,” he said in the documentary.

“I’ve got PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and I get anxious, for periods of time. I just find myself crying for no particular reason.”

Flintoff also said he relived the crash every night when he went to bed and described the experience as a “vivid” movie.