It seems for one former Friends cast member, their life is no longer "Stuck in second gear". Today, the BBC has announced that Matt LeBlanc will join the new Top Gear presenting team. The fastest ever star in a reasonably priced car, LeBlanc will join Chris Evans when the show launches later this year.

A new direction for Top Gear

The surprise announcement might not be so surprising after all, as Matt LeBlanc has already presented one of the Top Gear spin off series - Top Gear: The Races. The series took fans through the most memorable challenges across the twenty two series. LeBlanc is certainly a qualified petrolhead, with a garage full of beautiful cars. In September 2012, one of his former cars went on sale, a simply beautiful Ferrari 360 Modena, modifying it himself before trading it in for a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Hey guys, very cool news coming in the next day or so. Stay tuned.

— Matt LeBlanc (@Matt_LeBlanc) February 4, 2016

Matt LeBlanc said "As a car nut and a massive fan of Top Gear, I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this iconic show’s new chapter. What a thrill!" The leading force behind the new series Chris Evans was equally thrilled. "Matt’s a lifelong fellow petrolhead and I’m thrilled he’s joining Top Gear. Acting out our craziest car notions on screen is a dream job and I know we’ll both be debating some epic road trip ideas. We can’t wait to share what we’ve been up to on screen later this year." The question now is, "Who will be joining them?"

"More news on additional Top Gear cast members shortly..."

Rumours have circled for months on who exactly would be joining the new Top Gear presenter team. In recent weeks, there were a lot of reports that the Queen of the Nurburgring Sabine Schmitz and motoring journalist Chris Harris would be lining up alongside Evans on the Top Gear race grid. There has also been little news following the invite for car enthusiasts across the country to submit their video applications for the job. It is unlikely that Matt LeBlanc applied via this method, but with details slowly trickling out, you never know! It appears more details will be announced soon, with both the BBC and Top Gear websites promising new details to emerge shortly.

Matt LeBlanc has been named one of the hosts of New #TopGear. Do you think he will be a success in the role?

— Creditplus (@creditplus_uk) February 4, 2016