Top Gear’s First Taping BOMBED

We’re so close to the actual first episode of Top Gear’s new offering with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc at the helm, and now there are news the taping of the first show did not really go as well as everyone hoped. Starting the whole mess is the unexpected drop out of Brad Pitt as the rebooted show’s first guest. Apparently he pulled out very last minute and was replaced by Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsey and Lex Luthor, Jesse Eisenberg.

During the actual recording, we might be seeing more of the Chris Evans that many of his previous employees and coworkers have been complaining about. According to The Sun, Evans went into a four-letter expletive rant at the Top Gear audience members and demanded they laugh at his jokes.

The host, 50, snapped during recording of segments for the revamped show: “Don’t fold your arms, don’t wear black. Take it off – take everything off.

“Don’t fold your arms, don’t have your hands in your pockets. F***, f***, f***, f***, f***.”

He said: “Don’t be quiet. Talk among yourselves. Jesus Christ! Can you all hear me?”

Co-host Matt LeBlanc, 48, repeatedly fluffed his lines while Evans took more than ten attempts to film his introduction.

The overall shooting took more than four hours – despite Evans claiming they would do it in a hour and mocking previous presenter Jeremy Clarkson for taking three hours.

As for the first episode, Top Gear has released a preview of what we can expect to see. If you’ve seen all of the trailers then this might not be breaking news to you, but they’ve at least confirmed some of the filming locations and the challenges we can expect to see:

In celebration of 1986 classic Top Gun – which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year – Chris Evans heads to Nevada to pit the 645bhp Dodge Viper ACR against a Chevy Corvette Z06 driven by Sabine Schmitz. Cue roof-mounted guns.

Elsewhere, Matt LeBlanc takes Ariel’s manic Nomad into deepest Morocco for some fun, while back on British soil, both he and Chris Evans take a rain-soaked road trip to Blackpool in a pair of roofless Reliant Rialtos. Yup, it’s time for a UK vs USA challenge.

The Top Gear show will return to BBC on Sunday May 29th. While the United States viewers will have to wait an additional day on BBC America on May 30th. We’ll be giving the show a fair chance, regardless of all the negative news and controversies surrounding the show. Inclusion of Matt LeBlanc into the lineup will provide much more room for International banter and help the program reach a wider audience in the U.S. In the meantime, you can checkout the extended trailer below:

(Sources: The Sun & Top Gear)