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Top Gear dealt another blow

Los Angeles  - Top Gear has reportedly drafted in a new boss.

BBC bosses have dropped Katie Taylor and replaced her with Clare Pizey following the backlash the motoring show received last week when host Matt LeBlanc performed a series of disrespectful stunts next to the Cenotaph in London.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "BBC top brass want no more gaffes so have put Pizey on the case with the remit to make the show safe. There was serious doubt it would even make it to air after the Cenotaph outrage."

The former Friends actor, 48, sparked uproar when he was seen hopping into a lavish Hoonicorn in Central London and whizzed alongside racing driver Ken Block before disrupting a wedding held at St Paul's Cathedral two weeks ago.

His co-host Chris Evans was forced to apologise for the stunt, which left tyre marks on the streets surrounding the war memorial, and admitted the scenes will not go to air.

He said at the time: "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 motor car.''

The stunt was branded "disrespectful" by retired Colonel Richard Kemp and he claimed sacked host Jeremy Clarkson, who was dropped last year following a filming spat, would never have sunk so low for the show if he was still fronting the motoring programme.

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