Top Gear may be coming back — but the BBC hasn't confirmed anything yet

Top Gear could return to BBC Two as early as 2027 with a completely new presenting lineup, according to insider reports first cited by GB News (May 2026). The show has been off air since December 2022, when host Freddie Flintoff was seriously injured in a crash during filming at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome. BBC Studios has not officially confirmed a reboot — a spokesperson told LADbible (May 2026) there is "no update" — but multiple sources claim a presenter search is quietly underway.

A long road to get here

At its peak with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, Top Gear pulled in around 6 million viewers a week and was sold to more than 150 territories worldwide. That era ended in 2015 when the BBC fired Clarkson following an on-set altercation; Hammond and May left with him, and the trio moved to Amazon to launch The Grand Tour.

Subsequent BBC attempts to fill the gap — with Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc, and later a rotating cast including Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris — never matched those ratings. The Flintoff crash brought production to a permanent halt. Flintoff received a reported £9 million settlement for his injuries, and Harris has since revealed he warned the BBC about safety risks three months before the accident.

Clarkson, for his part, has ruled himself out of any return to the BBC show.

The competition isn't standing still

While the BBC deliberates, Amazon has moved fast. New Grand Tour hosts — replacing Clarkson, Hammond, and May — were officially confirmed in February 2026 for Prime Video, signaling Amazon's ongoing confidence in motoring content.

That leaves BBC in a tricky spot. A new Top Gear needs to feel distinct from The Grand Tour without simply copying its format, and it needs to do so with unknown presenters. The 2027 timeline is plausible but unconfirmed; the real question is whether the BBC can find hosts who make viewers forget the original lineup — something it has so far failed to do.