Update: Following James May’s announcement, the BBC also confirmed today executive producer Andy Wilman has quit Top Gear.
James May has officially ruled out a return to Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson.
Speaking to The Guardian (hat tip to Autoblog), May says the idea of him returning to the show with co-host Richard Hammond and a “surrogate Jeremy” would be a “non-starter” and “lame, or ‘awks’ as young people say.”
“It has to be the three of us. You can’t just put a surrogate Jeremy in and expect it to carry on,” May said. “It would be forced. I don’t believe they would be stupid enough to try that.”
The news is yet another blow to Top Gear fans, but not all hope is lost. Yesterday, the BBC’s Kim Shillinglaw said the three episodes of the 22nd season put on hiatus will be aired “in some form” this summer. She also maintained a restructured version of Top Gear will return in 2016, but it’s unclear if Richard Hammond or executive producer Andy Willman will be involved.In light of his departure, May also hinted at the possibility of himself, Clarkson and Hammond returning to the BBC after pointing out to The Guardian that, technically, Clarkson wasn’t fired.”In the future when all this has blown over, there might be an opportunity for the three of us to get back together on the BBC to do Top Gear or a car show of some sort,” he said. “The BBC haven’t completely closed the door on Jeremy’s return. They’ve not banned him or fired him, only just not renewed his contract for the moment. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one.”
As for the rumours of the trio switching networks (or moving to Netflix, for that matter), May said there was “nothing to rule out,” but added that non-compete clauses in their contract could be an issue for at least one presenter.
