Top Gear won’t be seen for the “foreseeable future” on TV, the BBC has stated.
The present has been off air since host Andrew Flintoff picked up “life-alteringly significant” accidents following a crash, which led to a £9M ($11.2M) payout for the cricketing legend and a well being and security evaluation.
In the previous couple of minutes, the BBC has put out an announcement saying it has “decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future,” citing “exceptional circumstances.”
The company stated it stays dedicated to Flintoff and his co-hosts Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, “and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them,” with “more to say in the near future on this.”
“We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do,” stated the assertion. “All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.”
Flintoff has solely just lately began being seen in public for the reason that crash – with noticeable accidents on his face – which befell final yr at Surrey’s Dunsfold Park Aerodrome and led to filming being instantly halted.
The BBC had apologized to Flintoff in March over his accidents, across the time a security evaluation concluded. The security evaluation won’t be printed however BBC Studios has stated “important learnings” will likely be taken from it and there have been quite a lot of suggestions. Plenty of producers have give up the present for the reason that crash.
The information confirms what many had already thought could be the case however is an enormous blow for one of many BBC’s most established codecs. Top Gear had been experiencing one thing of a renaissance beneath Flintoff, Harris and McGuinness following a difficult couple of seasons when scores had dipped.