Top Gear ramps up presenting team with Eddie Jordan rumoured latest catch
Eddie Jordan, ex-Formula One team boss, is set to join Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc as the latest presenter of revamped Top Gear series.
An insider reported that Evans and Jordan had known each other for decades and his expert knowledge would be a major asset for the show.
Jordan has been an analyst for BBC’s Formula One coverage since 2009 alongside David Coulthard, who was also rumoured as a host of Top Gear last year.
The BBC declined to comment but it is understood that a deal confirming Jordan as a host is almost certain to be finalised in the coming days.
The team, so far Evans and LeBlanc confirmed, are set to embark on a trip to South Africa, with various pit stops around the world planned as filming locations for the new-look Top Gear, which is set to air in early May.
The BBC is next week due to confirm German racing driver Sabine Schmitz and motoring journalist Chris Harris as Top Gear presenters, which was leaked last year along with David Coulthard.
Friend's star Matt LeBlanc told Evans on his Radio 2 show that he was amazed at the response of the public after it was announced he will be joining Top Gear as a presenter.
“I knew Top Gear was a big show,” he said. “But, wow, I was on the front page of the New York Times. There was so much I couldn’t read it all. Thanks to Top Gear and the BBC my day has been ducking paparazzi.”
The positive publicity that the show has garnered over recent days is exactly what the BBC needed to bounce back from the loss of the show's executive producer last year after only five months in her role, along with reports that Evans was on the verge of quitting due to tensions with "meddling” BBC executives.