BEN COLLINS!
I did not WANT to know this (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/stig-wins-court-fight-to-reveal-his-identity-2068090.html)! :(
His choice though, I suppose! It is his life, after all! :D ::)
I am fairly sure Top gear will make the most of the situation in a positive way.
is this some kind of joke? What's the deal about that guy?
Better than being "Pissed On" ::) ::)
Airflamesred, aye, I'm sure they will, they can make anything enjoyable to watch. TG is my favourite TV show. And I don't even drive! :D
Frank, Top Gear is kind of a motoring magazine show, big budget, beautifully shot camera work, funny, a joy to watch. They have had a 'masked' super-driver that tests all the cars, sets incredible times, mentors the 'Star in a reasonably priced car' guests. Some say, he wears a tie in the bath and, when he's not on the track, he likes to perform laser-surgery on fatigued goats. All we have known, however, is that he's called 'The Stig'. ;)
The Stig's identity has been one of British TV's best kept secrets of nearly the last decade. Now, though, the man behind the helmet has decided to pen his autobiography, disclosing his secret in the process. The BBC had taken this to the High Court to try and stop the secret from emerging because, 'The Stig' had signed a contract in which he agreed never to disclose this secret.
The BBC has lost the case and now, Mr. Ben Collins(a Formula 3/Le Mans driver/Proffessional stuntman in movies, and such) has been unmasked through it all.
The Stig's real identity has been puzzling the general public for years and, personally, I really liked this premise.
Of course, the BBC is majorly pissed off that the secret has been legally revealed and so is the TG team, and, the general public of viewers, who's license fees have paid for half the court battle's costs.
I'd have liked the secret to have never been revealed but really, I suppose it's the guy's own prerogative to talk about his life, after all, it is his life. Meh, it's just a disappointment to me. :'(
Anyhow, good luck to the guy, and the TG team, I know they'll make the best of the situation, although, I do foresee a lot of snide in any forthcoming TG shows that will be aired, from the rest of the team.
A shame, really, it was great not knowing the secret but really, it IS just a TV show after all. And on the brightside, at least someone has beaten the BBC, a major corporation and, one to be reckoned with! Well done on that, Ben Collins, but you're still an arse for doing it! :D
It is a bit of a strange move by him I must say. Realistically I'm not going to buy a book by a Ben Collins, I might be tempted by 'the Stig's' book. I presume he's weighed up the pros an cons of his de-cloaking or maybe his agent has?
He'll make 20x the money from this book than he would working on top gear for 20 years. He was probably trying to get out of his contract anyway, or they were forcing him out.
I'm sure he''ll get a good advance but as dandelO eludes to, why not save Britains best kept secret for the second book?
I read he was on 10 grand per-show, that's not a bad little earner! Greedy!
Of course, everyone will rush out and buy it now, after this little media episode. A 'Stig' book would only be classed as more TG merchandise.
Talking of which, I've already got my copy! :D :D :D
EDIT: Removed ugly mugshot, it was intimidating me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrtlC4NTys
Aye, right! Everyone wished it true, as well. He was No.1 candidate in a lot of people's eyes.
Shame it turned out to be a nobody in the end! Well, nobody I'd ever heard of previously, anyway. :D
@Frank - as been mentioned, TopGear is a TV show about cars and so on. A short time ago the show started in germany also, but I haven´t seen it so I don´t know how well the translation is, which is important, as the original is pretty funny.
I am by no means a motorsports or car fan, but the Top Gear clips I have seen so far were great - very british ;-)
by the way, that one was great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEp9bBY5ds
or that one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zy78tFPQwQ (Is it easy to park? It has a window, steering wheel - yes!)
"Is it green?"
"Yes."
:D
Quote from: Walli on September 06, 2010, 03:11:54 AM
A short time ago the show started in germany also . . .
The principal host of the show, Jeremy Clarkson, is widely regarded as a xenophobic boor. It might be amusing to hear him slagging off the Germans in German, which he has done on numerous occasions on the show. Those bits wouldn't be edited out, would they?
Did you know the original Stig was the F1 racing driver Perry McCarthy? He was to be called the Gimp, but Mr McCarthy said there was no way he was going to go under the name Gimp, and told Jeremy to find another name. So the Gimp became the Stig. He became known as the Black Stig as he wore black racing coveralls. He was the Stig for the first two years after the revamped toys-for-boys show was relaunched.
I still laugh at the episode when Clarkson was driving a Bugatti veyron through France and decided to ring Direct Line to see how much the insurance would be.After much farting about the guy obviously could.t find it on his list of cars and said 'Is it a ford?'
And after the season Shumacker is having the stig job might just do - for a bit of beer money!