The original Stig believes ‘Top Gear’ wouldn’t be as "valuable" without Jeremy Clarkson.
Perry McCarthy, who was the original anonymous driver on the BBC motoring show, has confessed he thinks it won’t be anywhere near as successful if the broadcaster decides to sack the presenter after they confirmed he’d been suspended following a "fracas" with a producer.
He shared: "We all normally say, ‘Nobody is bigger than the programme’, except this time. I think Jeremy is bigger than ‘Top Gear’, I really do, that’s my personal opinion. And if ‘Top Gear’ were to go on without him, it would be damaged goods. It wouldn’t be as valuable, it wouldn’t be as enjoyable and who’d want to see it without Jeremy? I wouldn’t."
The 54-year-old presenter was suspended by the BBC and the next two episodes of ‘Top Gear’ have been cancelled after it was alleged he’d punched producer Oisin Tymon for failing to provide him with a steak dinner after a day of shooting but Perry believes the situation has got out of hand.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, he said: "I always found Jeremy to be just great fun. Jeremy will pull your chain, there’s no question about it. He’s looking for a reaction. He just wants to have fun so he’s up for a bit of banter but I always think of Jeremy as just being very mischievous. I like the bloke so I always found him to be just good fun, very professional and very creative."
Perry also claimed that while Jeremy always liked to have his voice heard on set, he was never unreasonable.
Asked how Jeremy gets on with members of the production crew, he added: "I think they work pretty well as a team. Jeremy always struck me as somebody who had a very strong idea about everything.
"[He] would drag something forward and [when] you’ve got that creative energy you want to push forward as hard as you can but I don’t feel he always had to be right.
"If someone had a better idea – and it would have to be a really good idea to be better – but if they did it’s just about making the end product right."
The original Stig: Top Gear not as valuable without Jeremy Clarkson
