Yahoo News Matt LeBlanc opens up about Top Gear "media shitstorm"
Matt LeBlanc has admitted that he wasn't prepared for the "media shitstorm" that accompanied his arrival to the Top Gear presenting team.
The actor, who had previously appeared on the show twice as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, joined as a host in 2016 when the programme was revamped following the exits of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
But the new show wasn't that well-received, with much of the criticism directed at LeBlanc's co-host Chris Evans, who left after one series.
"I didn't realise I'd be stepping into the middle of a media shitstorm," LeBlanc told The Times. "I didn't know (Evans) was leaving.
"I get along fine with the guy. I read it in the paper."
LeBlanc now co-hosts the series with Chris Harris and Rory Reid, and has admitted that it now feels like "more of a collaboration".
"I was just there to deliver some jokes and drive some cars (in his first series)," he said. "I think the second season, after Chris Evans left, it became more of a collaboration.
"In Chris's hands, he was the guy in charge, and when he left it became more of a collaboration.
"Certainly we're now more productive and more creative."
LeBlanc, who rose to fame as the food-obsessed Joey Tribbiani in classic sitcom Friends, praised the Top Gear production team who "work their asses off" and admitted that some changes were needed after his first series.
"Of course you care what critics say. You don't want people talkin' bad about you," he said.
Luckily for him, reviews of the show are generally far more positive now, and he is apparently in talks to renew his contract on the BBC motoring show after his current deal ends this year.
Meanwhile, Top Gear's former host Clarkson has denied that The Grand Tour has been cancelled, labelling the rumours "shit".
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