If you are even remotely interested in cars, or television, you have probably heard that Chris Evans has been named as the replacement for Jeremy Clarkson to host a new version of Top Gear. So far it seems the fans are happy with BBC’s choice as we’ve been hearing nothing but compliments and congratulations for the white-haired man. 

This is obviously a very huge move for both Chris Evans and the BBC, so the new Top Gear presenter decided to talk directly to the fans in his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show and tell them how he landed the job and what went into making that decision. Yes, Chris did talk to Jeremy, Richard and James. Well, he texted them, because that’s what you do in this day and age.

So here’s a transcript of Chris’ words thanks to the good folks at TopGear.com:

Last Thursday, I got a text from Mark Linsey, who is head of entertainment for BBC TV. Basically it said, “Would you be interested at all in having a Top Gear conversation?”

I had never been offered the Top Gear job before that. […] So I called Mark Linsey back, and Mark explained to me that the situation had changed in the last 24 hours because Richard and James had finally ruled themselves out of a return to Top Gear.

Before that, they were very much considering returning. The BBC had made an offer to them, I was aware of that. And I wanted them to return, wanted Top Gear to carry on, as a fan. And I thought, honestly, as a betting man, that was going to happen.

So whenever I said I categorically rule myself out of ‘running for office’ […] it was because I didn’t want to be a pawn in a chess game involving two – and in fact three, including Jeremy – of my friends.

A few weeks ago, James and I went on holiday together – me and my family, and him and his partner – for three days in France. We talked about what he might do, what Jeremy might do and what Richard might do… for most of the three days, if I’m honest with you.

I did not want to be involved in bookies’ odds and all that kind of stuff, because that’s not what the situation needed. I had to get out of that madness, and let other people get involved in that if they wanted to.

But it all changed, as I say, on Wednesday. Mark phoned me up and said, “That’s [James and Richard returning] not going to happen, are you up for it?” At which point I said, “Can I think about it? I’ll call you back…”

I talked to Will [MacDonald] about it. Will and my wife were the only two people I told. We decided that what I do for a living is radio and television and a bit of writing, and it [Top Gear] is the biggest television show in the world. It’s my favourite television show of all time, you know how much of a fan I am of the show.

I love producing […] so I said yes. We had our first meeting about it on Friday, and that was basically that. The weekend was strange and calm and exciting.

[…] Yesterday was a very interesting day. We decided we were going to announce it at 7.15[pm] on the BBC2 Twitter feed. We pressed the button […] and waited for our phones to melt, and that’s exactly what happened.

Before it was announced, I texted Jeremy and James and Richard and Andy [Wilman], and I’ve heard back from all of them.

James called me back straight away, within a minute of me texting him to have a chat, and we’re going to meet up today and tomorrow and talk about things. Who knows what might happen there?

And then Jeremy texted me. He said, “I knew they would. […] I knew you would, best of luck,” and gave me a piece of advice, which I’m not going to repeat on the radio, to be honest.

Then Richard texted me back […]. He said, “You were designed and built for that job and it’ll be great. It was also always the BBC’s very best option.”

[…] So there you go, that’s it. Now all I need to do is remember to breathe…