Right on the heels of the BBC’s announcement that the remaining episodes of Top Gear Season 22 will be aired sometime this year, cohost James May is coming out with a strong proclamation: He simply won’t return to the show without Jeremy Clarkson.
That’s what the BBC star and, apparently, weird hat aficionado told The Guardian at length today, emphasizing that the show just wouldn’t be the same without Clarkson.
“Me and Hammond with a surrogate Jeremy is a non-starter, it just wouldn’t work,” May told The Guardian. “That would be lame, or ‘awks’ as young people say.
“It has to be the three of us. You can’t just put a surrogate Jeremy in and expect it to carry on. It would be forced. I don’t believe they would be stupid enough to try that.
“I don’t think you could carry on with two people and put someone in as the new Jeremy because they are not going to be the new Jeremy. That would be short sighted and I don’t think it would work. Virtually impossible.
“It doesn’t mean I won’t go back, we may all go back in the future. It might just be we have a break from it. I don’t know.”
May’s comments highlight a fact about Clarkson’s dismissal that many seem to have overlooked during the unfolding fracas: While the star was suspended and production of the show was put on hold, Clarkson’s eventual dismissal was not an outright ban. The star’s contract, which ran out at the end of the current season, was simply not renewed, leaving open the possibility of Clarkson returning to the BBC.
“In the future when all this has blown over there might be an opportunity for three of us to get back together on the BBC to do Top Gear or a car show of some sort,” May told The Guardian. “The BBC haven’t completely closed the door on Jeremy’s return. They’ve not banned him or fired him, only just not renewed his contract for the moment. It’s a subtle difference but an important one.”
May also acknowledged the possibility that the Top Gear trio might reunite for an automotive project with a rival broadcaster—rumor has it Clarkson has been in talks with Netflix—though Captain Slow hinted that one or more of the presenters may have a non-compete clause to contend with before that becomes a possibility.
Meanwhile, BBC’s Kim Shillinglaw has confirmed that there will be a Season 23 of Top Gear—though given May’s claim that he won’t return without Clarkson, the next season could look very different from what we’re used to.
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