James May says Top Gear was ‘very much of its time’ and needs to change

James May has said his erstwhile amusement Top Gear was “very overmuch of its time”, and suggested that a alteration to the format would beryllium needed to bring the motoring bid backmost to TV.

The BBC “rested” Top Gear for the foreseeable aboriginal aft Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was injured successful a clang connected the trial way astatine Dunsfold Aerodrome successful Surrey during filming successful December 2022.

May, who presented Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond earlier the trio near to big Prime Video’s The Grand Tour, told the Telegraph helium thinks the long-running motoring amusement is improbable to support to the aforesaid format erstwhile it returns.

The 61-year-old said: “Top Gear was precise overmuch of its time. Social attitudes towards the car person changed rather a bit. These days, it’s go much political.”

May besides said Top Gear was not “sexist oregon misogynistic”, successful defence of disapproval from erstwhile the trio hosted the programme.

“It was conscionable painfully honest,” helium added.

“It was a presumption of the world, distorted done the eyes of radical who were unreasonably acrophobic astir cars.”

May besides claimed the trio, who signed disconnected with the last occurrence of The Grand Tour past month, “were rather metrosexual” during their clip connected Top Gear, and said Clarkson’s relation was to marque arguable comments.

I didn’t wince astir Clarkson being arguable due to the fact that it’s his occupation to beryllium an arse and helium is precise bully astatine it

James May

The bid received disapproval from the Mexican ambassador, the Indian precocious commissioner successful London, and Argentine officials during the trio’s tenure.

May said: “I didn’t wince astir Clarkson being arguable due to the fact that it’s his occupation to beryllium an arse and helium is precise bully astatine it.

“I’d wince astatine him not misunderstanding immoderate basal rule of aerodynamics. I’d think, ‘how tin you not cognize that?’

The rubric of his adjacent show, James May And The Dull Men’s Club, connected Quest, comes from however antheral hobbies and roles tin beryllium viewed by society, May said, adding: “It’s a spot farty to accidental this, but what utilized to beryllium considered the attributes of basal manliness are being mocked.”

He besides said it is astir men uncovering solutions to mundane method issues successful his workshop.

“The thought of being thorough, oregon being capable to marque things oregon usage tools: it’s each considered a spot ‘dad’, a spot dull.

“So successful the amusement we decided to headbutt it by being absorbing astir being dull portion acknowledging that everyone thinks the things we bash are dull.”

Flintoff, who hosted Top Gear with Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris earlier accumulation was paused, has made a dependable instrumentality to the nationalist oculus since his accident, and was precocious seen successful the four-part BBC TV bid Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams On Tour.

He admitted it had been “a batch harder than I thought” to shingle disconnected the crash, and said helium had struggled with anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks.

Flintoff has besides been announced arsenic the big of a Christmas peculiar of darts-themed quiz amusement Bullseye, which was archetypal fronted by precocious comedian Jim Bowen from 1981 until 1995.