Friends actor Matt LeBlanc to be new Top Gear presenter

Friends actor Matt LeBlanc is to join Chris Evans as a presenter on the new series of Top Gear.

Evans confirmed the news as he tweeted a picture of himself, LeBlanc and The Stig.

The revamped version of the BBC show is due to air in May.

LeBlanc said: “As a car nut and a massive fan of Top Gear, I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this iconic show’s new chapter. What a thrill!”

Evans said LeBlanc, who is best known for his role as goofy lothario Joey in Friends, is a “lifelong petrolhead”.

“Acting out our craziest car notions on screen is a dream job and I know we’ll both be debating some epic road trip ideas,” Evans said.

LeBlanc appeared on the previous incarnation of the show - presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May - in 2012 and set the fastest-ever time for their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. According to the official Top Gear website, he set an unbeaten lap time of 1m 42.1s in a Kia cee’d.

LeBlanc recently hosted a spin-off called Top Gear: The Races. The seven-episode series saw the American actor going through the stand-out racing moments from the first 21 series of the show.

Clarkson was sacked by the BBC last year after assaulting Irish television producer Oisín Tymon.

Clarkson attacked Tymon and reportedly called him a “lazy, Irish c***” during a confrontation at a hotel in north Yorkshire.

Clarkson was suspended after the “fracas” over catering on March 10th and was sacked by the BBC on March 25th, following an internal inquiry.

The inquiry, led by the director of BBC Scotland Ken MacQuarrie, said Tymon “was struck, resulting in swelling and bleeding to his lip” during the “unprovoked physical and verbal attack”.

Tymon is suing Clarkson for racial discrimination and personal injury.

Since his departure from Top Gear, Clarkson has signed a new deal with Amazon Prime to present a motoring show, which will air this year.

He will be joined by Hammond and May, as well as producer Andy Wilman.

May recently told the Radio Times he would like to see Evans’s reboot of the show doing well. “It’s a ballsy call to continue it. I wouldn’t want to be the one presenting it when we’d just finished, but there must be a way of reinventing it. We always said it would survive beyond us,” May said.

In the run-up to the announcement of Evans’ official co-hosts, other names speculated to be joining him were former F1 driver David Coulthard and motoring journalist Chris Harris.

Coulthard was recently confirmed as a presenter for Channel 4’s F1 coverage, officially ending speculation that he was set to join the Top Gear team alongside Evans.

Recent reports suggesting the new show may not be ready for its May debut were also dismissed by the BBC.

A BBC spokesman said: “Filming on Top Gear continues as planned and on schedule.” Prior to it airing, the new show has also seen one of its executive producers, Lisa Clark, leave after just five months of working on the show.

She said in a statement that she was “moving on to new projects”, and added: “I’d like to wish production all the very best with the show.”

The BBC issued a statement thanking Ms Clark for her “incredible work for the last five months readying new Top Gear for its busy filming schedule in 2016 and planned return in May”.