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Rumours fly of Clarkson's future, TV3 tight-lipped on Top Gear

MediaWorks refuses to comment on future of show.

Campbell Gibson
Thu, 12 Mar 2015

Rumours of suspended Top Gear host Jeremey Clarkson are doing the rounds on international news outlets.

The Telegraph is reporting that Mr Clarkson hit BBC producer Oisin Tymon after being told no dinner had been laid on for the Top Gear presenters after they finished filming for the BBC2 show one night last week.

The BBC faces a "multimillion-pound bill" if it scraps Top Gear because it will have to compensate to foreign broadcasters according to The Guardian.

The Independent says even if Mr Clarkson is cleared of the allegations, Mr Clarkson may quit the BBC, causing UK broadcasters to enter into a bidding war for the 54 year-old.

MediaWorks, which holds the rights to Top Gear in New Zealand and broadcasts it at 7:30pm on Thursday, is refusing to comment on what will happen to the slot while the Top Gear debacle continues.

Spokeswoman Rachel Lorimer tells NBR ONLINE the show is broadcast approximately one month behind the UK, “so although the BBC is not broadcasting Top Gear this Sunday, that will not affect New Zealand viewers.”

Asked what will happen in the case of the show being canned, Ms Lorimer says, "We're not going to comment on speculation."

She deferred comment on the future of the show to the BBC.

The fallout has led to two episodes in the current series being pulled, while the third is “unlikely to be transmitted” according to the BBC.

The British public broadcaster is reportedly refusing to comment as to whether Top Gear will return at all.

Mr Clarkson was given his final warning last May after claims he used a racist term while filming the show.

At the time, he said the BBC had told him he would be sacked if he made "one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time."

Meanwhile, Mr Clarkson and co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May have taken to social media, joking about what will air in place of Top Gear this weekend.

 

Campbell Gibson
Thu, 12 Mar 2015
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Rumours fly of Clarkson's future, TV3 tight-lipped on Top Gear
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