Top Gear creator claims bosses almost rejected one presenting legend – and another messed up his audition
The BBC motoring show could have travelled in a very different direction...
Top Gear creator Andy Wilman has revealed that James May was initially rejected from the presenting line-up in the early 2000s.
May joined Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC motoring show in 2003, with the trio going on to huge success before they left in 2015.
Since then, the hosts have moved to Prime Video, embarking on The Grand Tour which has also since come to a conclusion.
Wilman's new book, Mr Wilman's Motoring Adventure, will be released later this week and in extracts obtained by The Sun, Wilman wrote that May was reconsidered for the presenting gig after Clarkson bumped into him at a car launch.
Clarkson felt May would be a "good counterpoint to me and Hammond".
The BBC declined to comment when approached by RadioTimes.com.
Wilman also noted that Hammond hadn't impressed in his audition, but managed to win BBC bosses over with a rant about how this was typical of his underwhelming career so far.
As per The Sun, Wilman wrote: "By this point we were in tears of laughter. Jeremy could barely speak. We knew there and then we had a keeper."
The book claims that after the first season of the rebooted Top Gear in 2002, the BBC wanted to sack Hammond and original presenter Jason Dawe – and while Dawe did leave, Hammond was given another chance.
"Much to Jeremy's and my shock, the BBC high-ups also weren’t sure about Richard. It wasn’t a definite decision, as with Jason, but axing Richard was definitely on the table," he wrote.
"Richard's late Christmas present from the BBC, given to him in the new year, was that he kept his job."
Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure: Top Gear, Grand Tour, Clarkson and Me is published on 6th November and is available for pre-order now.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
