DAWE DEAL
Who is former Top Gear presenter Jason Dawe and why did BBC replace him with James May?
His love of cars began long before Top Gear
TOP Gear saw a change in presenters following long-time host Jeremy Clarkson's exit in 2015.
While many hosts have stuck around for several years Jason Dawe, who fronted the 2002 reboot of the motoring show, only presented a single series before parting ways with the popular franchise.
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The car enthusiast
Jason Dawe is a journalist and television presenter.
He was born on May 4, 1967, in Cornwall.
Dawe was always a lover of cars.
Before he even embarked on a career in the media, Jason worked at car dealerships and as a motoring industry trainer.
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He became a familiar face on TV when he started presenting the 2002 series of Top Gear, when the show was rebooted on BBC Two following its 2001 cancellation.
The BBC ended the show after viewing figures began to decline but revived it just a year later.
The Cornish car enthusiast has been a regular Sunday Times columnist for the motorist section, and has also written for publications such as Top Gear Magazine, Used Car Buyer, Autotrader and AA Magazine.
He has worked as a motivational speaker and has teamed up with brands like Dell, Ford, Toyota, Harley Davidson and Herman Miller.
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Family life
In 2003, Dawe tied the knot with Ruth Davis, a former Wiltshire Times reporter from Trowbridge.
According to the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, Dawe arrived for their wedding in style.
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The former Top Gear presenter pulled up to the hotel in a silver Jaguar XJ8 4.2 Sport worth £50,000, which had only just been released on the market.
The couple share a son and two daughters.
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Leaving Top Gear
Top Gear, which originally aired from 1977 to 2001, was rebooted in 2002.
The show's revival was hosted by Jason Dawe, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.
Clarkson and Hammond would go on to work together on the series for many years, but Dawe only joined them for the one year.
Fans of the show were left wondering why Dawe left.
Top Gear producer Andy Wilman has said that Dawe's exit from the show was because it just "wasn't working out" with him.
Dawe was replaced by James May, who would go on to present Top Gear with Hammond and Clarkson until 2015.
Wilman, writing in Top Gear magazine, said of replacing Dawe: "We had another visit from the BBC meddling department, who told us that market research showed our show was attracting young, lifestyle, trendy viewers to BBC Two, so perhaps we should think about getting a young, lifestyle, trendy presenter."
Per , he added: "Ever keen to assist, we searched high and low and eventually came up with just the man: James May."
He also said BBC bosses weren't sure about Hammond after his first series, admitting they "had a wobble about Richard".
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Clarkson, Hammond and May hosted the show as a trio from 2003 until 2015, when Hammon and May quit following Clarkson's axing.
A number of famous faces have presented the show since then, including Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc, Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness.
In November 2023 the BBC announced that Top Gear would not be returning to TV "for the foreseeable future" after Flintoff was involved in a crash while filming the show in 2022.
In a statement, the broadcaster said it had "decided to rest the UK show".
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Life after Top Gear
Following his exit from Top Gear, Dawe made his return to TV screens in 2005.
He appeared on ITV's Used Car Roadshow with Penny Mallory and hosted the show until it was cancelled in 2007.
Dawe went on to work on BBC Watchdog and The Morning Show.
As well as appearing on TV, Dawe has also made several radio appearances as a car expert over the years.
Some of his credits include the Radio Two Chris Evans show, Radio Two Drive Time, BBC Radio Scotland, and The Tim Shaw Show on Kerrang Radio.
From 2009 to 2010, he presented Classic Gear; a show about classic cars alongside Mallory and Alice Crocker.
In 2020, Dawe went on to present the Body Shop Awards.
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Where is Jason Dawe now?
As of February 2024, Dawe describes himself as a motoring journalist and TV presenter on social media.
Some of the work he has posted about includes presenting for The Marine Channel at the Palma Boat Show in Mallorca, Spain.
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He regularly shares motor news and reviews on X, formerly known as Twitter, and also has his own website where his car reviews are archived.
Dawe appears to be good friends with First Dates maître'd and I'm a Celebrity 2023 contestant Fred Sirieix, whose posts he regularly interacts with on X.
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