SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: F1 Jenson Button tipped for Top Gear job
- Formula One star Jenson Button may be lined up to co-present Top Gear
- Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans already announced as one host of motoring show
- It comes after Jeremy Clarkson was dropped following 'fracas' with worker
- BBC has held video auditions for positions with Jodie Kidd also in running
Formula One playboy Jenson Button may have brushed off talk of retirement, but he could be about to accelerate into a new career.
I hear the 35-year-old driver is in talks with the BBC about co-presenting Top Gear with Chris Evans, who’s also known for a hard-partying past.
‘An announcement is imminent,’ claims one source.
Scroll down for video
Formula One's Jenson Button may be about to take on a co-starring role on BBC's Top Gear, alongside Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, following the Jeremy Clarkson sacking, while Jodie Kidd is also said to be in the running
Button, who married model Jessica Michibata (together above) last December, is good friends with Evans
Button, who married model Jessica Michibata last December, is friendly with Evans and twice appeared on Top Gear before Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left.
Neither Button’s spokesman nor the BBC deny that talks are taking place but both refuse to comment on ‘speculation’.
As Button has said, ‘In any sport, the trick is to retire at the right time.’
It comes after former host Clarkson was unceremoniously dropped from the motoring show for punching producer Oisin Tymon in an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal’ attack following a filming session in North Yorkshire.
The star was suspended following the 'fracas' at a hotel and became the subject of an internal BBC investigation, before being permanently dropped by the Corporation.
At the time, director-general Tony Hall said 'a line had been crossed' and 'there cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another'.
Following Clarkson's departure - which also saw May and Hammond leave the hugely successful motoring show as well as executive producer Andy Wilman - there was much speculation about his replacement.
However, Radio 2 DJ Evans was last month confirmed as the new Top Gear host before the BBC revealed it would be welcoming open video auditions for co-presenters.
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans (left) has been confirmed as the new Top Gear host following Jeremy Clarkson (right) being unceremoniously dropped from the motoring show for punching producer Oisin Tymon after filming
As dozens of entries were submitted, from the wacky to the deadly serious, it emerged that former model Jodie Kidd may also be in the running for a coveted co-star position.
Evans remains tight-lipped over who will be joining him next year, insisting that the first step is to assemble the behind-the-scenes talent.
However, BBC director general Tony Hall has admitted that he'd like to see more women on the show with car-mad Kidd - who describes herself as ‘a lunatic, adrenaline junkie child’ - perhaps in the running after she famously scored a record lap time for the show's ‘star in a reasonably priced car’ feature.
- Horrifying moment mother is swallowed by escalator in China
- Pet pooch Raven shares nap time with tired toddler Addison
- Hillary boards private jet in Iowa after launching climate...
- Mom says her children's horrific sunburn came from daycare
- Niccolo Porcella survives insane wipeout at Teahupoo
- Moment owner is reunited with dog he had to give up for...
- Incredible moment three-month-old says 'I love you'
- Police called after Confederate flag group invades child's...
- Footage shows foreign submarine found in Swedish waters
- Exclusive: Paula Jones says Hillary shouldn't be running
- Confederate flag truckers hurl racist abuse and wave rifle
- Florida cop caught tossing food at inmate like an animal
- WANTED: American dentist who paid $55,000 to kill Africa's...
- EXCLUSIVE: 'Hillary must NEVER become President', says the...
- Horror injuries suffered by two brothers who had to be...
- EXCLUSIVE: 'I have four children who are Hollywood stars -...
- EXCLUSIVE: Video shows Hillary Clinton boarding private jet...
- I’d love to go hunting one day with Dr Walter Palmer the...
- Terrifying moment a black child's birthday party was...
- Voyeur uses drone to spy on nudists: Furious naked...
- EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Swift's outrage over 'harassment' by...
- The boy with a DOUBLE hand transplant: Zion, eight, shows...
- Fifteen-year-old boy 'lured eight-year-old girl who lived...
- Ivana once claimed Donald Trump 'violated' her in violent...