Chris Evans’ newly revamped version of Top Gear is on trajectory for a head-on collision with Britain’s Got Talent. The new Series 23 of Top Gear was originally scheduled to debut on May 8, but was pushed back a fortnight after filming ran behind schedule. However, the BBC might be about to push the launch out again, after realising the 8pm slot on May 22nd will see their show going up against the live semi-finals of ITV’s high rating talent show – which pulled an audience of 11.6 million people on Saturday.
According to a source, the BBC are scrambling to revise their schedules. “Top Gear is already under intense scrutiny and the last thing they need is to try and launch it against ITV’s most popular show,” the source said. “They were gutted when they heard that Top Gear would go head-to-head with Britain’s Got Talent. They’ve pulled a sharp handbrake turn.”
A spokeswoman from the BBC has said that “Scheduling details will be announced in due course,” however at this stage it is understood they’ll most likely push the show back a second time to avoid the first of Britain’s Got Talent’s live semi-finals. The extra time could also be beneficial to the Top Gear team, who were running behind schedule with their filming.
We can also reveal that Series 23 of Top Gear will now consist of just 6 episodes, rather than 8 as previously planned. A BBC spokeswoman said “We have always said we will launch in May and full scheduling details will be announced in due course.”
We’ll let you know as soon as we find out.
2 comments
Wouldn’t want to go up against a show featuring people with talent!
Just 6 eps? lol, goes to show how unsure they are of it 😛