Matt LeBlanc would like to make one thing clear from the start: contrary to reports he and Chris Evans, his former co-presenter on Top Gear, never fell out.
Now the lead presenter on BBC Two’s long-running motoring programme after Chris’s departure following one series last year, Matt reveals: “I read the stories in the papers about me wanting him out and saying, ‘It’s him or me’.
But I never said any of that stuff. A part of me misses Chris. We got on fine.”
The only thing that Matt found tricky about last year was that Chris had a dual role on Top Gear.
Chris Evans? It’s nice not to work with the boss
The 49-year-old American admitted last week that he has not seen Chris since the end of the last series and he only found out about Chris’s resignation when he read it in a newspaper.
“Last year Chris had creative control over the show and was also one of the presenters,” he says.
“He was wearing a lot of hats. For the guy I’m playing a scene with also to be the boss always felt a little strange.”
Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid make up Top Gear’s new presenter line up
But now Matt says he is delighted to be back behind the wheel of Top Gear, which returns with a new line-up tonight on BBC Two.
Possessed of effortless charm and a complete natural as a presenter, Matt is now fronting the show with motoring journalists Chris Harris and Rory Reid.
He may be one of the most recognisable faces on the planet after 10 years in the world’s most popular sitcom, Friends, but Matt remains refreshingly down to earth.
As we chat in an upscale central London hotel, the star can be summed up by all those adjectives beginning with W: warm, welcoming, witty, wise.
“Now the creative control on Top Gear is with the producers,” he says.
“They run the show and none of the presenters have a final say on anything. That’s the way I’m used to working. There is a boss who is behind the camera. That registers in my mind.”
A man who has been obsessed with cars his whole life, Matt underlines that presenting Top Gear is a fantasy job for him.
“Sometimes, I sit there thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m making a film about this car!’ As far as dream jobs go, yeah, it’s up there. It’s really fun. I wish I could say it’s not that great but if I’m honest, it’s totally awesome!”
Matt’s co-presenters, who have been promoted to take more of a leading role this year, are equally pleased to be involved in the world-famous motoring programme, which is about to rev up for its 24th season.
“Is this my dream job?” asks Chris, 42, who is also a racing driver.
“No, I’d rather be an accountant! No, of course, this is an amazing job.”
He proceeds to outline why: “For this week’s opening episode, I drove a Ferrari FXX K around the Daytona circuit in Florida. That is the most absurd vehicle on Ferrari’s private list. Only 25 have ever been made.
“You cannot buy that experience. Well, you can but you have to be invited to come and do it and it costs 2.2 million euros. So we get to go and do that kind of stuff. That puts me in a weak position when it comes to negotiating salary!”
The programme has been on the BBC for 40 years now. So what is the secret of the brand’s longevity? Matt, who is already developing a very good relationship with his co-presenters, judging by his banter with them during our interview, thinks Top Gear continues to be successful because it is a car show that does not simply appeal to petrol heads.
“I don’t think you necessarily have to be a car enthusiast. A big part of the show’s attraction is the ‘bromance’ between the presenters,” he says.
Matt LeBlanc already has a good relationship with co-presenters Rory Reid and Chris Harris
“Top Gear is a show where you can travel with a cool car and see far-off places and new cultures that were never on your radar. You can have a laugh with the presenters and live vicariously through them from the comfort of your own couch.”
Matt, who is now starring in another successful American sitcom, Man With A Plan, about a stay-at-home father who finds parenting challenging, adds: “Also, we do wacky things that only happen on Top Gear. ‘They’re doing what with that car? They’re firing it from a giant slingshot?’
We have big shoes to fill but we’re certainly prepared to go for it.” According to Rory, 37, Top Gear also continues to draw in viewers because it’s pure escapism: “We do things that viewers can’t imagine ever being able to do for themselves.
“You can just veg out on the sofa on a Sunday night and enjoy it. There is a sequence in the new series where we show up in Manchester and shoot a scene straight out of an eight-yearold boy’s brain by recreating the arcade game Pac-Man; with cars!”
There is, of course, now a rival to Top Gear on the starting grid. Amazon Prime is streaming The Grand Tour, a lavish new motoring programme fronted by the former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
So what do the current hosts of Top Gear think of the competition? “I haven’t seen The Grand Tour,” says Matt.
Lining up for an adventure in Kazakhstan for episode one
“I don’t know how to watch something on Amazon! But I absolutely wish it well. I hope they continue to do it.
It’s great for people who love cars and travel shows because they will have two of them now.
I’m sure The Grand Tour is good.
Those guys are good at what they do.” The Top Gear presenters close by emphasising just how lucky they are to have a job that most people would trade in a Ferrari FXX K for.
“I love the process that goes on behind the scenes on Top Gear,” Chris enthuses.
“The producers say, ‘Right if I have a bit of budget, some time on my hands and want to do something really stupid with my two mates, then what would it be?’
“They always nail it.
“And we’re the lucky ones who get to live out that dream.”
Chris concludes that, “Making this show is great fun. But it’s also surreal. I still think someone is going to pinch me and I’ll wake up and say, ‘In reality I’m an accountant but I’ve just had this really weird dream where I fronted a car show with that bloke from Friends!’”
Top Gear begins at 8pm on BBC Two tonight
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