Top Gear stars Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris sign up for new BBC road trip series

Two stars of Top Gear, which is currently being rested after a presenter was injured, have signed up to a new road trip series with the BBC.

Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris will front Road Trippin, which will follow the pair as they travel across Europe.

McGuinness said he was “very much looking forward to getting back on the road”.

Top Gear is currently on hiatus after host Freddie Flintoff was badly injured in a crash in 2022.

The new series will “look at how our European neighbours grow old gracefully and make their years ahead their best yet”, the BBC said.

Harris and McGuinness will head to Sweden, Greece and Switzerland as they face classic midlife problems of their own.

Although it is a road trip series, the show will be different in format to Top Gear in that it will not focus on cars and motoring issues.

The series, consisting of three one-hour episodes, will air on BBC One and iPlayer

The BBC said the series would follow self-proclaimed “well and truly middle-aged” Paddy and “soon to be 50” Chris as they go on a mission to explore the secrets to living a long and full life.

The two friends “will be meeting some of the healthiest, happiest, not to mention ‘well-preserved’ and long-lived people alive,” the BBC said.

“Along the way, they will be getting under the skin of each country they visit as well as doing plenty of soul searching.”

In a statement, McGuinness said: “I’m very much looking forward to getting back on the road with Chris Harris.

“Not so much looking forward to sharing a confined space with him,” he joked. “He doesn’t believe in deodorant. On the plus side he’ll give me something to laugh at along the way. Bring it on!”

Harris added: “Paddy’s idea of long-haul travel is driving from Bolton to Blackpool, so this European road-trip should be a real eye-opener for both of us.

“When we’re finished debating the merits of literally everything we encounter, viewers will hopefully take something rewarding away from our deep-dive into the secrets of human longevity.

“I’m just hoping my interest in the subject doesn’t dwindle as each mile goes by in Paddy’s company.”

In a statement about Top Gear released in November, the BBC said it has “decided to rest the UK show”.

Presenter Flintoff was injured a year earlier at Top Gear’s test track at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey.

The 34th series was subsequently halted and the BBC apologised to the former England cricketer.

Flintoff reached a settlement with the BBC, reportedly worth £9m. The payout was understood not have been funded by the TV licence fee, as BBC Studios is a commercial arm of the broadcaster.