James May Says He Won’t Return to Top Gear Without Jeremy Clarkson

Top Gear presenter James May has ruled out a return to the BBC show without Jeremy Clarkson on board, saying a show without the original presenter would be “lame.”

May called a return alongside fellow co-host Richard Hammond with a new presenter in place of Clarkson a “non-starter,” the Guardian reports. Clarkson’s attack in March on a producer got him axed from the show.

“Me and Hammond with a surrogate Jeremy is a non-starter, it just wouldn’t work. That would be lame, or ‘awks’ as young people say,” May said.

“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.”

Clarkson was fired from Top Gear, which the trio has hosted for 12 years, after a ‘fracas’ in which he physically and verbally attacked producer Oisin Tymon, leaving Tymon to seek hospital treatment.

[The Guardian]