TV break for new comedian

Comedian George Lewis is to present the Top Gear spin-off Extra Gear.

The job – his TV debut – comes just a couple of years after he started in stand-up.

He made the final of the BBC Radio New Comedy Award last year, when Chortle compared him to Jon Richardson, and he has also made the final of the Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year, the Leicester Square Theatre Comedian of The Yer and the Comedy Knights Comedian Of The Year and  scooped the Amused National New Comic Award in 2015.

Lewis is signed to Off The Kerb, the powerful management company who count Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, Jack Dee and Romesh Ranganathan among their stable.

Extra Gear was created as a BBC Three iPlayer spin-off for the last series of Top Gear, when it was reinvented with Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans, who has now stood down.

The first series was presented by motoring journalists Rory Reid and Chris Harris, both of whom have been promoted to the main show, but will continue to present Extra Gear with Lewis.

Extra Gear is put out after the main show, which returns to BBC Two this Sunday.

Here's a trailer for Top Gear's return

Published: 28 Feb 2017