Chris Evans dedicates BBC Radio 2 show to Top Gear colleagues: 'Breathe in, breathe out, move on'

Evans announced his decision to step down a day ago

Wake-up call: Chris Evans (PA)

Chris Evans dedicated his BBC Radio Two show to his Top Gear colleagues after stepping down as a presenter amid a slump in viewing figures.

After a turbulent 24 hours, Evans began the Chris Evans Breakfast Show by telling viewers: “Today's show is dedicated to all the Top Gear gang. And today's show is entitled Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On - as we should!”

Evans announced his decision to leave the motoring show on Tuesday just weeks after it relaunched with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May replaced by Evans and Matt Le Blanc.

Viewing figures fell to 1.9 million on Sunday, one million less than on the previous week. Some of the most watched episodes of Top Gear with Clarkson, Hammond and May at the helm drew up to eight million viewers.

“Stepping down from Top Gear,” Evans confirmed on Twitter on Monday (4 July). “Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.”

He said in a statement after: “I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last 12 months. I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause.

“I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.”

Evans said it would be “full steam ahead” with Radio 2, CarFest, Children in Need and other projects.

Evans, 50, launched his career as a DJ on the London Radio station GLR before becoming a household name while presenting Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast between 1992 and 1994, spending the next decade building a media empire.