Top Gear started back last night with new hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc. After months of controversy, the latest season’s first episode drew just 4.3 million viewers – below Clarkson’s 5.6-million average and barely above Antiques Roadshow’s numbers for the same time slot, according to The Sun. The debut episode of the relaunched series aired in the USA on Monday, May 30, at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.
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One person suggested they were there to prepare the food, and Evans said playfully: “By the way, we don’t talk about catering on this show any more”.
Its former presenters Clarkson, May and Hammond have a new motoring show on Amazon’s internet TV streaming service coming out later this year (16).
This Chris Evans was too busy saving the world to have anything to do with “Top Gear”.
However, the show was still the most-watched programme in the 8pm timeslot, outshining on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow and ITV’s British Soap Awards.
But it was British co-host Chris Evans who came in for the majority of the “Top Gear” sneers.
Motoring enthusiasts were highly anticipating the return of the reformed hit BBC series Top Gear this evening, and it seems they have been left with a bitter taste in their mouth as the show failed to live up to years gone by. FACT. These are THE FACTS folks.
3 million viewers last June.
Evans, LeBlanc, motor sport entrepreneur Eddie Jordan, racing driver Sabine Schmitz and journalists Chris Harris and Rory Reid were announced as the show’s new presenters in February (16).
There’s been plenty of promotion in the run up to Top Gear’s revival but it appears it wasn’t enough to see them soar.
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The show also faced major criticism for extremely poor dialogue that was reminiscent of their predecessors but was not delivered with the same effect.
