The entire cast of BBC->ke1860 has finally been revealed, and to the surprise of a lot of people, the Top Gear decided to double up on the number of presenters for the revamped show. Instead of using the old formula of having three hosts, the new BBC will have a total of six, not including that tame race car driver. So here it is, joining Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc as hosts are Chris Harris, Sabine Schmitz, Rory Reid, and Eddie Jordan.

To be fair, it was expected that Harris and Schmitz would be part of the show. There was even a rumor that former F1 driver David Coulthard would also be named a host. What few anticipated was Reid and Jordan also being named co-hosts of the show. Turns out, the Top Gear decided to bring them along anyway, presumably because they bring their own level of expertise to the table. Jordan, in particular, is a former Formula One->ke190 team owner, so he should know a thing or two about the inner workings of motor racing.

The biggest surprise here is Reid. The journalist does have some experience in the automotive world, having hosted BBC Car Tech channel and the CNET’s channel YouTube But even he himself expressed surprise to have been named a co-host after submitting a 30-second audition tape. Apparently the Top Gear liked it enough to add him to the roster of hosts.

So there you have it. The new era of BBC will start on May 8, 2016.

Fast, Furious & Funny.

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So I guess the BBC was really serious about reinventing BBC. In some ways, that’s to be expected because the network wasn’t shy in floating so many names around in its search for new hosts of the show. Without explicitly saying so, it already laid the ground work for a new crop of hosts to take over the show. What I didn’t see coming was having six co-hosts, not including the Stig.

This totally changes the way the show is going to be presented largely because you’re going to have twice as many opinions on a particular car. Maybe the BBC will also alter the hosting duties, which would make sense because there wouldn’t be any struggles in trying to fit all six people in the same frame. Maybe Harris and Schmitz, because of their backgrounds in testing cars, will specifically work on that part of the show while Evans, LeBlanc, and Reid will be in charge of the actual hosting duties. Who knows, maybe Jordan was brought it for the sole purpose of putting the Stig in his place. At this point, the setup for the show is still up in the air so, there’s plenty of room for speculation in that regard.

But as far as the hosts are concerned, it’s going to be these six individuals. Only time will tell if this approach pays off for the BBC, but these people have huge shoes to fill if they hope to be as successful as Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond were in the last incarnation of the show.