Top Gear host Chris Evans apologises 'unreservedly' for Cenotaph stunt

Sebastian Mann14 March 2016

Top Gear presenter Chris Evans has apologised "unreservedly" after the show faced a backlash for a “gravely disrespectful” stunt filmed near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

The sight prompted severe criticism from retired military commander Colonel Richard Kemp.

He told the Telegraph it was “gravely disrespectful”, adding: "This is a sacred tribute to millions of people who have done far more for their country than Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc ever will."

He also said: "Jeremy Clarkson was certainly no saint but I don't believe he would have ever performed a stunt in such bad taste."

Speaking on his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on Monday, Chris Evans said: "It doesn't matter what actually happened, it doesn't matter what the circumstances were that could explain this away, what is important about this is what these images look like and they look entirely disrespectful which is not and would never be the intention of the Top Gear team or Matt (LeBlanc).

"On behalf of the Top Gear team and Matt, I would like to apologise unreservedly for what these images seem to portray.

"There have been some very incendiary comments written alongside these pictures and I completely understand this furore but the Top Gear team would never ever do that.

"Retrospectively it was unwise to be anywhere near the Cenotaph with this motorcar."

Row: Matt Le Blanc filming the Top Gear stunt over the weekend
PA

The criticism followed a separate incident which saw Chancellor George Osborne scold Evans for making a racket near Downing Street and distracting him from writing the Budget, which is due to be delivered on Wednesday.

He tweeted: "Trying to write my Budget, despite noisy episode of @BBC-TopGear being filmed outside on Horseguards Parade. Keep it down please @achrisevans."

Evans took over presenting Top Gear after Clarkson was sacked for punching producer Oisin Tymon in the face in a row over food.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in