Top Gear: Producer Andy Wilman not quitting the show

 

Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman has said he is not quitting the show.

A leaked email from Wilman to staff of the show had seemed to suggest he was resigning, but he said it was a private "note of thanks" marking the an end of an era.
Wilman, an old school friend of former presenter Jeremy Clarkson, helped relaunch the show with him in 2002.
Clarkson was dropped by the BBC earlier this month following a "fracas" with a Top Gear producer.

                       

 

Wilman has issued a statement about the email, saying: "The email I wrote yesterday was not a resignation statement, and nor was it meant for public consumption".
A spokeswoman for the BBC said his email "was intended as a heartfelt message to people who had worked with him and Jeremy, to recognise the fact that with Jeremy leaving it was the end of an era".
"It was not a farewell but a thank you to people who have been important to the show over the last 12 years. It was bringing down the curtain on the Clarkson era, not announcing his own departure," she added.
In the leaked email Wilman started with: "Well, at least we left 'em wanting more.
"And that alone, when you think about it, is quite an achievement for a show that started 13 years ago."
As well as thanking staff, he assured them that the show will continue.
"For those of you who still rely on it for work, don't worry, because the BBC will make sure the show continues.
"Our stint as guardians of Top Gear was a good one, but we were only part of the show's history, not the whole of it. Those two words are bigger than us."
BBC director general Tony Hall announced on 25 March that the corporation would not be renewing Clarkson's contract.