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Yahoo TV NewsEvans Confirms Female Top Gear Co-Host
Chris Evans has made '100%' statements in the past – but this one has a ring of truth
He had categorically denied he would be the new Top Gear host, so perhaps Chris Evans' '100% confirmations' should be taken with a pinch of salt.
His latest guarantee is that will be joined by a female presenter.
'I can confirm 100% we'll have a female,' he told Radio 5 Live.
And with BBC bosses keen to change the perception of the show as a boys' club, it is more than likely that this one will prove true.
Model Jodie Kidd, who was linked with the main presenting role when Jeremy Clarkson was sacked, has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite to take on the role.
She was even seen having a drink with Clarkson soon after he left, fuelling speculation that he had given her his blessing to take over.
Evans, who ruled out joining Top Gear three months ago, said he did so because he didn't want to upset the former presenters. But he changed his mind once it was confirmed that James May and Richard Hammond would definitely not be returning.
He suggested that he had only agreed to host the show – for a rumoured £3 million a year – after being told the pair had decided to quit the motoring show last Wednesday.
'When I said "I categorically rule myself out" it was because I didn't want to be a pawn in a chess game involving three of my friends,' said Evans.
'I didn't want to be involved in bookies' odds and all that kind of stuff, because that's not what the situation needed – I had to get out of that madness. But it all changed on Wednesday.'
And last night Evans wrote on Twitter: 'First tweet as new Top Gear host. I would like to say Jeremy, Richard and James are the greatest. And NO I'm not leaving the R2 Breakfast Show.'
Other female presenters to have been linked with the ‘Top Gear’ job since Clarkson's departure earlier this year include Formula 1 presenter Suzi Perry, who was spotted at the bar during the ‘TFI Friday’ special last week, and Sue Perkins, though she was quick to dispel the rumours.
Kidd is now favourite to join him presenting the show, with bookies offering odds of 5/4.
