Chris Evans has sensationally quit Top Gear on the same day police announced they were investigating him over allegations of sexual assault.
The BBC host announced that he was withdrawing from the show over Twitter on Monday morning.
Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.
— Chris Evans (@achrisevans) July 4, 2016
It follows dogged reporting by Heat Street‘s Miles Goslett, which saw associates of Evans question his fitness to front the show, and a former colleague accuse him of molesting her at work for years.
Evans threw in the towel via his Twitter account just hours after the Metropolitan Police released a statement saying that they are investigating him over an alleged sex crime in Tower Hamlets, East London, in the 1990s.
The revelation confirms exclusive reports by Heat Street this weekend, which told how officers were preparing to question Evans.
A statement from the Met today said: “An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23.
“The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s.
“There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution.”
Aside from the allegations against Evans, the latest series of Top Gear has also proved an unmitigated disaster in terms of ratings.
Last night’s episode saw the viewership dip below 2million – a dismal plunge from the heyday of Jeremy Clarkson and co, when the series would regularly reach 7million people.
However, despite the impending scrutiny from Scotland Yard, Evans will continue to host his Radio 2 programme.
A BBC spokesman told Heat Street: “Chris Evans will host tomorrow’s Radio 2 breakfast show as usual.”
