Breaking News – Chris Evans Stepped Down From Top Gear
Chris Evans quits Top Gear, saying “I gave it my best shot”
Presenter understood to have made decision last week
BBC sources say Evans became tired of the press sniping about the show
Evans will keep his Radio 2 breakfast show
BBC said to be keen to install Matt LeBlanc as main host
Earlier this morning police confirmed a sexual assault probe, after allegations that Evans had groped a woman in the 1990s, which he denies
Chris Evans has quit Top Gear, announcing that “my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause”.
The presenter is understood to have become tired of the constant press sniping about the motoring show, which recorded poor viewing figures.
The announcement comes after police confirmed this morning that they are investigating allegations of sexual assault, after the presenter was accused of grabbing the breasts of a female colleague in the 1990s.
In a statement released this morning, the Met confirmed that a woman had made an allegation of “non-recent sexual assault” to officers on May 23, six days before Evans’s newly-revamped Top Gear returned to the BBC.
Police said the allegation related to “incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s”.
Evans hosted Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast between 1992 and 1994, with the programme airing live from a cottage in Bow, located within the east London borough.
In a statement, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23.
“The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s.
“There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution.”
Officers would not give any further guidance on the timescale of the investigation, or whether Evans was likely to be questioned in the near future.
Heat Street, a news website, reported in May that a former colleague of Evans had complained that the Top Gear presenter exposed himself to her, and grabbed her breasts.
Evans has previously denied the claims, saying that they amounted to a “witch hunt”. He added: “All these bullying claims and other allegations are just ridiculous.”
After reports in a Sunday newspaper that Evans faced police questioning “in the coming days”, sources close to the star insisted that he had not had any contact from detectives.
BBC sources also said they had not been contacted about the claims.
The development leaves the corporation with a conundrum over how to deal with allegations against one of their most high-profile presenters.
Neither the BBC nor Evans’s representatives would comment on the claims today. A spokesman for the corporation said that the presenter would continue to host his Radio 2 show.