Chris Evans has stepped down as Top Gear presenter after saying his best shot was “not enough”.
The TV and radio presenter said he was stepping down after just one series, amidst flagging ratings. Top Gear’s audience fell to a new low of fewer than two million viewers as the series stalled again in the ratings on Sunday.
Evans tweeted: “Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.”
He added: “Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future.”
In a statement, he said: “I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last 12 months. I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause.
Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.
— Chris Evans (@achrisevans) July 4, 2016
“I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.”
Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studio’s, said: “Chris is stepping down from his duties on Top Gear. He says he gave it his best shot doing everything he could to make the show a success.
“He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team, to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be.”
The motoring show has struggled to attract viewers since Evans took the wheel.
Evans and co-presenters including Matt LeBlanc and Sabine Schmitz replaced Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, who all left the BBC after Clarkson was fired for a “fracas” with a producer.
Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future.
— Chris Evans (@achrisevans) July 4, 2016
Sunday’s finale of the rebooted first series, which featured Hollywood actor Patrick Dempsey, drew an average of 1.9 million people and an 8.7% share of the available viewing audience, according to audience measurement organisation BARB.
The final episode lost out to ITV’s coverage of Euro 2016, but audience figures have been low throughout the series.
Over the last six weeks, Top Gear has struggled to make an impact in the overnights – the figures for the previous day’s viewing.
It launched over a Bank Holiday weekend with 4.4 million viewers on May 29.
Top Gear’s second episode then plummeted to 2.8 million, and the show never went back above that figure.
The show has failed to reach the viewing figures of the last series with Clarkson, Hammond and May at the helm.
The former Top Gear presenters bowed out with 5.8 million viewers, and will premiere their new Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour in the autumn.
Before the revamped Top Gear had even aired, the show was already embroiled in a row over “donuts” around The Cenotaph.
LeBlanc and racing driver Ken Block came in for heavy criticism after performing stunts around the war memorial.
There was an uproar after photos showed large tyre circles left on the streets surrounding The Cenotaph after filming had been completed.
Evans branded the incident “disrespectful” and said the footage would not be aired.
He apologised on his BBC Radio 2 show and said he “completely understood the furore” and that “retrospectively, it was unwise to be anywhere near The Cenotaph”.
