BBC accused of trying to split up Top Gear trio Clarkson, May and Hammond in shocking claim
BBC bosses tried to 'break up' Top Gear's presenting trio to add some diversity to the line-up, the show's co-creator has sensationally claimed.
Andy Wilman, the executive producer on the hit driving programme, is spilling a host of behind-the-scenes secrets in his new book, Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure.
Dubbed the 'fourth member' of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond's three-man squad, he was privy to a host of crunch talks about the future of Top Gear over the years.
According to Wilman, bosses at the BBC wanted to shake up the Top Gear team and get rid of one of the main stars in favour of hiring a 'Black or Asian presenter'.
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In his upcoming book, the former motoring journalist, 63, claims that bigwigs at the broadcaster apparently didn't 'get the memo' about how popular Clarkson, May and Hammond had proved with viewers.
Ultimately, the trio - whose chemistry on screen was undeniable in the eyes of most fans - remained at the helm of Top Gear until 2015.
"Even though the public were clear about their feelings for Richard, James and Jeremy, sometimes the BBC senior management appeared not to have got the memo," he wrote.
Wilman explained that he was called in for a meeting in wake of the 'tremendous news' that a tonne of young black and Asian people were tuning into Top Gear.
In the excerpts from Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure which were published by The Sun, Wilman writes about how a TV executive asked him: "How about replacing one of your line-up with a young black or Asian presenter?"
He claimed that he fought for the trio to remain untouched during the chat with telly chiefs at the BBC.
In response, Wilman is said to have told the executive: "So hang on, you’ve got young black and Asian viewers who have chosen, seemingly quite happily, to watch three white, middle-class, middle-aged men doing what they do, and in response to that, we should now break that team up - the one they enjoy watching - and give them something they’re most likely not asking for?
"Isn’t that sort of patronising to...young black and Asian viewers?"
Wilman then adds: "I knew this was checkmate. I’d managed to get patronising and ethnic diversity into the same sentence."
The producer - who is also behind The Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm - also claims that the BBC was keen to get rid of Richard Hammond in the wake of his first series.
Top Gear was resurrected in 2002 by Clarkson, who brought his childhood pal Wilman back onboard - while Hammond was then eventually cast alongside former presenter Jason Dawe, who was later replaced by May.
But the show's co-creator claims that 'the BBC high-ups weren't sure about' keeping Hammond in the line-up.
"Much to Jeremy’s and my shock, the BBC high-ups also weren’t sure about Richard," Wilman said. "It wasn’t a definite decision, as with Jason, but axing Richard was definitely on the table.
"Richard’s late Christmas present from the BBC, given to him in the New Year, was that he kept his job."
Wilman claims that the broadcaster was also reluctant to have 'three white middleish-aged males' fronting the show when May was brought into the fold in 2003.
He alleged that bosses wanted more 'chalk and cheese' from the presenting line-up, but he and Clarkson managed to talk them round.
Wilman went on: "Luckily Jeremy and I could counter with evidence that ‘cheese and cheese’ also works really well. Trinny and Susannah, for example - two poshos whose joint chemistry had made their show one of the most popular on television."
Speaking of the scandals that followed Top Gear's presenting trio over the years, Wilman described it as 'quite a slow death'.
"The process of us going from being the Corporation’s cheeky rascals to unacceptable villains took its own sweet time," he said. "As good as we were at walking the line, sometimes entitlement creeps in, you get giddy and you plain just f**k up."
The BBC declined to comment on Wilman's claims when approached by LADbible.
Wilman's book, Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, hit's the shelves on Thursday (6 November).
Topics: TV, Top Gear, BBC, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Books, Celebrity
Olivia Burke