Chris Evans urges fans to audition for ‘Top Gear’ co-host job

Chris Evans has called on Top Gear fans to send in short audition clips for a job on the show, as he admitted he has been terrified of losing his driving licence since landing the presenter role.

The Radio 2 breakfast show DJ said that he had “never driven more carefully” since getting the hosting job.

He told candidates to send in videos of themselves from the waist up, with “no stunts, no gimmicks” or cars, behaving as they would if they were on the show.

Evans said that he had spent a lot of time in his car after his appointment was announced, driving to and from appearances on TV and radio shows, and that he was extremely careful to stick to the speed limits.

“The most striking thing about the whole day was that I spent a lot of it in my car,” he told listeners.

“I have never driven more carefully. I have now realised I can’t lose my licence.

“You know when you drive so tentatively you’re almost a bit of a danger... I stuck to all the speed limits.”

Evans said that he would be holding auditions to find a co-host on the hit show.

He said that candidates needed to have an “appetite, hunger, and need” to host the motoring show, which will be broadcast on BBC2 in March or April. “If nobody’s good, nobody is going to get the job,” he said.

The BBC has already confirmed that neither James May or Richard Hammond would be returning.

He said that there will definitely be a “female presence” on the show but not necessarily a co-host, with Jodie Kidd hotly tipped to be a candidate.