Report: Top Gear presenters refusing to go on without Clarkson
The BBC has postponed the last three airings of this season of Great Britain’s “Top Gear” following Jeremy Clarkson’s suspension last week.
The 54-year-old was suspended after a “fracas” in which he allegedly punched producer Oisin Tymon.
With the removal of “Top Gear” from its lineup last weekend, the BBC lost 4 million potential viewers on Sunday, reports The Telegraph.
Co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond were reportedly given the option to film live segments without Clarkson and keep the show on the air, but chose not to do so.
A petition to “reinstate” Clarkson has reached almost 1,000,000 signatures, while a new petition calling for Alan Partridge (a fictional character played by Steve Coogan) to replace him has been launched and has attracted almost 30,000 signatures, both as of Thursday morning.
A “Top Gear Live” event is scheduled to take place in Norway next week, from March 27-28. It remains to be seen whether Clarkson will be at the event.
