James May blasts Top Gear fans calling for trio's return to 'rescue show' as he weighs in on BBC axe
James May (right) has weighed in on Top Gear's cancellation
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James May has shared his thoughts on the BBC's decision to cancel Top Gear for the "foreseeable future" almost one year after Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff's horror crash.
May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond have hosted The Grand Tour since leaving the Beeb back in 2015 but following the decision to shelve Top Gear, some fans have pondered whether or not the trio could return to revive the franchise.
Addressing the BBC's decision publicly, May told the Today podcast [via Deadline] that he's grown tired of the "partisan" nature of car show fans amid the calls for their comeback.
Describing them as the “car show-erati” he took aim at “the people who watch car shows and saying, ‘Well now they’ve done that wrong you can come back in and rescue [Top Gear]'."
In a preview for the full podcast which is released on Thursday, May says: "I was just thinking, ‘The bloke has hurt himself very badly in a life-changing way and you could perhaps not use it as an opportunity to be partisan’.
"You could perhaps say, ‘Rotten bit of luck, get well soon’.”
Freddie Flintoff was involved in a crash last December
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Top Gear may no longer be returning to screens anytime soon but if it were to make a comeback, May has some thoughts on how it could look.
The Grand Tour star admitted the programme needs "a bit of a rethink" after sticking to the same format since his, Clarkson and Hammond's time on the show.
“Since we left, Top Gear has followed a similar format and framework to the way we left it," he said.
"There must be another way of doing a show about cars that will perhaps embrace more fulsomely many of the questions that are being asked about cars that weren’t being asked for a long time."
WATCH NOW: GB News panel discuss Top Gear axe
Explaining its decision to shelve Top Gear, a spokesperson for the BBC said: "Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future.
"The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris [Harris] and Paddy [McGuinness] who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them.
“We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.
“All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.”
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Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May now front The Grand Tour
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Since his crash halted filming, Flintoff has returned to work and reportedly already lined up his next TV projects.
Flintoff also reportedly agreed a £9million compensation package with the Beeb following the crash.
May, on the other hand, has another show lined up with Amazon Prime Video where he'll star in 2024's James May: Our Man in India.
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