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Chris Evans Blasts Previous Top Gear Hosts As ‘George, Bungle And Zippy’

He’s been slammed as a diva before the show starts.

But Chris Evans has hit back at critics of the new under-fire Top Gear – by saying the old version was presented by a trio of muppets.

Evans, 49, branded predecessors Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond as comparable to ‘Zippy, Bungle and George’ – characters from kids’ series Rainbow – in a rant defending his version of the programme.

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The DJ, above filming the new series, added in his Mail On Sunday column he planned to rename Top Gear That Car Show if Clarkson and Co had kept the old title.

He wrote: ‘That Car Show would have been a good title.

‘I would have retitled Top Gear had Zippy, Bungle and George announced some irretrievable divine right over the original name.’

It’s been reported Evans has been so dictatorial in the lead up to the launch of the new Top Gear his behavior was the reason for the early exits of producer Lisa Clark and script editor Tom Ford.

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But Evans, above with Matt LeBlanc working on the show, added in his column: ‘Just a small point here – we don’t actually have a set yet for me to misbehave on. Not only has it not been built, but we have only just signed off the final design.’

Evans signed a three-year contract worth a reported £3million to take over and the new series is due to air May 8 after it was plagued by a two-week delay and scandal over a ‘donut’ stunt around London’s Cenotaph by Evans’ co-host Matt LeBlanc.

Pictures REX Features