May: 'Top Gear' producers will replace Stig
'Top Gear' preseter James May, who co-hosts the car show with Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson, expects bosses on the BBC show to replace the Stig- now Ben Collins' identity has been revealed.
Discussing the news that Ben's contract will not be renewed after he was unveiled as the secret speedster yesterday, James said: "We can get another one. There may be many more Stigs in many more galaxies. You see, the world is full of interesting myths about The Stig. There was a previous Stig, there was black overall Stig, who had to be `dealt with'.
"It is a shame. I mean, the whole point of being The Stig is that you are nobody. The Stig is a character. It's like, you know, it has to have a person in the suit, obviously, and it is always the same person, always has been because that way we get consistency, and Stig is anonymous because its good fun. It's a testing device, The Stig, and it protects it from corruption if nobody knows who it is, that's the really good thing about it."
Collins was unveiled as The Stig yesterday, after the BBC failed to secure a temporary restraining order in London's High Court banning him from releasing his autobiography, and therefore his identity.
Collins, 47, has joked that the upcoming season will see the three presenters get their revenge on Ben.
Discussing plans for the new series with Absolute Radio host Christen O'Connell, he quipped: "I think I'm still in it, and we're starting to do some filming next week and I can't really tell you too much about what we're doing.
"Yes driving round to The Stig's house and nailing his head to the table was one of them, going and getting our overalls back because they're not his, they're ours, we only leant them to him, and that helmet."
