Paul Hollywood is being widely tipped today to replace Chris Evans as host of Top Gear. The Great British Bake Off star is a known petrol head, and this could be a golden handshake to keep him with the BBC – after it was announced this week GBBO was heading to Channel 4. With hosts Mel and Sue already jumping ship, the beeb will be keen to keep their big star, and by giving him his own show, this could seal the deal.
The BBC and Love Productions were this week unable to reach an agreement on future series of the hit baking show. The status of the judges, Paul and Mary Berry, is currently unknown, but Paul is today being tipped to as Chris’s replacement. The 50-year-old is a big car and motorbike fanatic and was spotted out on bike today, clad in leather.
In his spare time he is an amateur sports car racer and previously presented a one-off show about Aston Martins called Licence to Thrill. Last year, the baker qualified second at the Britcar Trophy Championship at Silverstone and also competed at Le Mans.
Meanwhile, his co-judge on Bake Off Miss Berry, 81, has so far remained tight-lipped on whether she will be leaving. though her husband told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that she is ‘very happy with the BBC’.
Top Gear was rebooted this year after host Jeremy Clarkson was fired from the show, causing James May and Richard Hammond to leave too. A new line-up was launched with Chris Evans and former Friends star Matt LeBlanc. However after poor ratings, Chris quit the show.
It’s still unclear if Matt will continue on the programme.