THE Grand Tour’s new presenters have been officially unveiled after Jeremy Clarkson and his co-stars quit the motoring programme for good.
The Prime Video series will be back with three brand new stars – and they are all online influencers.
But Jeremy will be pleased with Prime’s picks as all three claim to be motoring enthusiasts.
Trainspotter Francis Bourgeois has been snapped up alongside the creators of the YouTube phenomenon Throttle House – James Engelsman and Thomas Holland.
All three are understood to be delighted to be reviving the show – two years on from Jeremy’s departure alongside former Top Gear pals, Richard Hammond and James May.
Speaking about signing up to the show, Francis admitted it would be “awkward” at first but said: “The saying ‘big shoes to fill’ spring to mind.
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“Well, in this case it’ll be like Mo Farah running in Size 14 wellies — it’ll be a little awkward at first, perhaps blister inducing but will overall be an interesting watch.”
Meanwhile, James added:”I’ve worked with Thomas for almost a decade making car films.
“Who knew that all this time, the one ingredient that was missing was a Francis Bourgeois? Let the car adventures commence.”
Whilst, Thomas joked: “When I first heard they were rebooting The Grand Tour and replacing Clarkson, Hammond and May, I said ‘only a moron would take that job’.”
Two years ago, Jeremy was left insistent that whoever took over from him and his TV pals had to have a motoring knowledge and shunned the idea of a popular presenter being picked.
The trio were famously replaced by Friends star Matt LeBlanc and TV host Paddy McGuinness on Top Gear and he appeared keen to avoid that again.
Speaking in 2024, he said: “My advice to Amazon would be – and I’ve given this to them already – for heaven’s sake, do not get well known people who ‘like’ cars.
“Because when you do that show it has to be your life. No, you can’t open supermarkets. No, you can’t appear on another show. If you’re not actually filming, you’re thinking about what the next thing is that you’re going to film. It has to be all consuming.
“But there’s no point hiring, you know, somebody who ‘likes’ cars. Because that’s not enough. I would get three complete unknowns. Start small, like we did. They’ve got to be absolute petrolheads.
“I’ve got to be able to show them a picture of a quarter of a door mirror from any car ever made, and they’ve got to know what it is. I’d go to motoring journalists. James, Richard and I are all motoring journalists.
“That would be my advice if you want to continue with it, and I would hope that Amazon do continue with it.”
The Grand Tour was first launched on Prime Video as a retooled continuation of the trio’s previous BBC hit, Top Gear.
The original show came to an abrupt end in 2015 but Jezza and co soon signed up for a brand new replacement show.