Car Culture

Top Gear hires two new hosts to replace Matt LeBlanc

Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff are joining the car show.

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Top Gear is getting from new blood next year.

BBC

Top Gear is going all-British in 2019, with comedian Paddy McGuinness and former cricket star Freddie Flintoff taking over hosting duties from actor Matt LeBlanc.

The one-time Friends actor has been with the show since 2016 and took the lead role from Chris Evans (the radio DJ, not Captain America) in 2017.

McGuinness and Flintoff will join motoring journalist and racing driver Chris Harris, who's been with Top Gear since 2016. Rory Reid, the third co-presenter and a former CNET writer, will become the face of Extra Gear, the show's behind-the-scenes spin-off.

"To be hosting a show I've watched and loved from being a small boy is beyond exciting," said McGuinness of the new gig.

Production will begin in early 2019, with the new season -- the show's 27th overall -- airing later in the year on BBC Two in the UK. The show airs on BBC America in the US.

Top Gear America, its US sister show featuring hosts William Fichtner, Tom Ford and Antron Brown, aired eight episodes for the first time last year.

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