Latest lineup say they are ‘bringing a different vibe’ as they try to halt ratings slump

Racial slurs, culturally insensitive jokes and a punch-up overshadowed the final years of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s reign on Top Gear. But the new lineup of Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness aims to modernise the BBC’s multimillion-pound brand, countering the toxic masculinity that often beset it in the past by giving the show “emotional depth”.

In contrast to Clarkson and co’s Amazon show The Grand Tour, which the singer Will Young criticised recently for its “shaming homophobic narratives”, the new series of Top Gear, which begins on 16 June, features Flintoff, Harris and McGuinness embracing other cultures and each other amid the banter and fast cars.

With this third lineup in as many years, the BBC is gambling that the chemistry between the trio can turn around a fall in ratings since Clarkson’s sacking in 2015 for punching a producer.

BBC Studios is keen to get Top Gear back on track as it has a global audience of 350 million and makes millions of pounds in merchandise and sales to help fund the rest of the BBC.

McGuinness said: “I feel as though we’re bringing a different vibe to the show, which is a positive in my eyes, with families watching it. Chris does his pure car reviews but there’s also funny bits … then there’s hugs and nice bits such as what we thought about Ethiopia.

“I think that’s a good thing. It just happens because that’s how we are and that’s the way the world is now.”

Harris, who worked on the show previously with Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc, said: “We hug each other; we didn’t hug each other before. Whenever I say goodbye to them after a day’s work, we have a hug. We live in a different world. The new Top Gear will embrace all sorts of emotions.”

Flintoff said: “It’s got a lot of honesty as well, in terms of talking about how you feel, what you’re doing or the car.”

The trio indulge in some boyish, competitive behaviour such as electrocuting each other during an episode on electric cars. McGuinness said: “On camera we take the mickey but when the cameras stop, genuinely we are there for each other, [asking] ‘are you all right pal?’ and that.”

Flintoff, who has spoken openly about his mental health issues, said: “We have a laugh but we’ve got each other’s back. I remember back in the day in cricket if you spoke about your feelings you’d get a clip round the ear from one of the older players and told to sort yourself out, but now it’s different.”

Whereas Clarkson, Hammond and May strained diplomatic relations with a number of countries – most notably when using a car in Argentina with a Falklands-connected registration plate H982 FKL, and breaching Ofcom’s code for using a racial slur while filming in Thailand – the new presenters are keen to immerse themselves in other cultures when abroad, with Flintoff even eating live grubs, a local delicacy, in Borneo.

“We travel around, people come out and see us and we’re involving them. I think that’s definitely different,” Flintoff said. “It’s a people show, we shouldn’t be detached from that.”

The new Top Gear is also going back to its roots by filming more in Britain. Harris said: “Top Gear, for entirely understandable reasons, started to focus on its international status because it was selling so well in international territories. Paddy and Freddie … inject fresh blood to make it a great British show again. If it succeeds at 8pm on a Sunday night on BBC Two then it’ll become more saleable overseas.”

Harris acknowledged that the show had “baggage”, but McGuinness said there was “an opportunity … it’s our job to make the previous shows look lacklustre.”

Top Gear’s executive producer, Clare Pizey, said the series would be less scripted and more ad-libbed than previously and have “emotional depth”. She said the trio were “anarchic … naturally competitive and naturally insulting to each other … these are men who are OK to hug and to talk about their feelings.”