A former producer of Top Gear has revealed that the BBC once contemplated breaking up the show’s most beloved presenting trio – Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May – because the team was viewed as “too white.”
Between 2002 and 2015, Clarkson, Hammond, and May helped elevate Top Gear into a worldwide sensation, with many regarding their era as the show’s pinnacle.
Andy Wilman, who co-created Top Gear and also worked alongside Clarkson on Amazon Prime’s Grand Tour, disclosed in his new book, Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, that BBC executives expressed concerns about diversity within the presenting lineup.
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Wilman recounted being summoned to a meeting where BBC bosses noted that Top Gear had attracted a growing audience of young Black and Asian viewers. They suggested this demographic shift should be mirrored by adding a presenter from a similar background.
He wrote, “So, how about replacing one of your line-up with a young… Black or Asian presenter?”
Wilman challenged the proposal: “You have young Black and Asian viewers who have chosen, seemingly quite happily, to watch three white, middle-class, middle-aged men doing what they do. And in response to that, you want to break up the team they enjoy watching to give them something they’re likely not asking for?”
He further questioned whether this approach risked patronizing viewers: “Isn’t that sort of patronising to… young Black and Asian viewers?”
The BBC has been contacted for comment on these claims.
This chapter of Top Gear came to an end in 2015 when Clarkson was dismissed by the BBC. Hammond and May left shortly afterward, joining Clarkson to create Amazon Prime’s Grand Tour, which ran for nearly a decade.
Top Gear has continued with various presenters but has recently been shelved indefinitely following a serious accident involving host Freddie Flintoff.