Amazon Prime Swoops in and Snatches up Former Top Gear Hosts

The termination of Jeremy Clarkson and the resulting departure of his sidekicks Richard Hammond and James May went from 0 to 60 pretty quickly. Following their departure, reports of the trio looking to start their own motoring show in the U.S. as a workaround to the no-compete contract Clarkson signed started popping up. Now, after shopping their services, an unlikely suitor has popped up and signed the three to contracts.

So, was it CBS or maybe ABC? Nope… Okay, then Netflix maybe? Nope… It was Amazon Prime of all places.

Sure, Amazon is a great place to pick up products at a great price, but it is not known as a major outlet for original shows. Regardless of its limited number original shows, the company tossed enough dough together to sign the former Top Gear hosts to a three-year deal to show a yet-to-be-named automotive show exclusively on Amazon Prime.

When the former Top Gear team began the search for a new home, pretty much all of the indications pointed toward Netflix being their new digs. This makes it even more surprising that Amazon was able to scoop them up, as Netflix has been pretty aggressive in picking up talent for original series.

The fact that Netflix passed on the Clarkson, Hammond, and May Cirque Du Automobiles, which is almost guaranteed to get high viewership, makes me wonder if the online video giant simply decided that they weren’t worth the headache. After all, Clarkson has been in more hot water than a bowl of freshly cooked ramen noodles as of late.

Only time will tell if Amazon made the right decision in shelling out the cash to lure the former Top Gear hosts into its small list of original shows, but it will be fun to watch either way.

On the Top Gear side of the divorce, Chris Evans opened up his search for a co-host to the public. The deadline for submitting 30-second audition videos passed on July 20th, but there haven’t been any announcements yet. Additionally, there have been recent rumors that Jodi Kidd and Jensen Button are being tapped for roles on the reboot of the legendary automotive show.

We’ll bring you more updates on the Top Gear/Clarkson, Hamond, and May saga as details emerge.