‘Top Gear’ Host Chris Evans Steps Down After 1 Season

British host partnered with Matt LeBlanc for new installment of BBC car series

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Newly minted “Top Gear” host Chris Evans is leaving the show after just one season.

“Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best,” Evans tweeted on Monday. “Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future.”

Evans partnered with Matt LeBlanc as the new hosts of the long-running BBC series earlier this year.

The new team also included Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, world record-breaking German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, auto journalist and YouTube star Chris Harris, and car reviewer and TV presenter Rory Reid.

The new lineup has not performed well in the ratings, however. The most recent episode hit a series low of 1.9 million viewers, per the BBC.

The new hosts took over for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Clarkson was fired by the BBC last year after assaulting a “Top Gear” producer, and Hammond and May resigned shortly thereafter.

Clarkson reportedly spent 20 minutes berating Oisin Tymon before physically assaulting him during a fracas over the lack of hot food after filming.

Hammond and James May, said that they wouldn’t return to the show without their colleague, calling the idea a “non-starter” that “just wouldn’t work.” The three will instead host their own auto series for Amazon.

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