Chris Evans already has an impossible task, reviving Top Gear following the departure of Jeremy Clarkson. But James May thinks the BBC are making his job even harder.


The former Top Gear presenter says that the decision to show repeats of the old show over Christmas was “harsh” on Evans just as he was planning how to launch his own version.

“I was surprised they showed lots of Top Gear compilations over Christmas,” May said in the latest issue of Radio Times. “I thought, ‘Oh, so now they’re celebrating us,’ but I also thought it’s harsh on Chris Evans.

“Just as he’s trying to launch his version of the programme, the BBC is saying, ‘Look how brilliant it was before.'”

May added that he wants to see Top Gear under Evans succeed – even though “it’s a ballsy call to continue it” – saying “there must be a way of reinventing it.”

Jeremy Clarkson not “having a breakdown”

The presenter might have chosen to leave Top Gear, but May is still working with the BBC: his latest series Cars of the People is set to air this Sunday 24th January at 9pm on BBC2.

As well as his BBC work, May is currently filming with Clarkson and Richard Hammond on a new car series for Amazon Prime, with a reported budget of £160 million.

May said that he was confident the show would be a success, and defended Clarkson following the BBC’s decision to drop him.

“If he’s an alcoholic, so am I,” he said. “We just like a drink. I don’t think he was unwell or having a breakdown. He’s deranged, but that’s not the same thing. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

Read the full interview with James May in this week’s issue of Radio Times, available in shops and on the Apple Newsstand from Tuesday 19th January