James May thinks Chris Evans is deliberately faking the filming problems 'Top Gear' has recently endured.

James May

James May

The 53-year-old television presenter - who used to front the programme alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond - is convinced the issues dealt to the motoring show recently is just an elaborate hoax to lower the expectations of the viewers when it returns to screens.

Speaking on 'This Morning' today (26.01.16), he said: "That's my theory. To be brutally honest that's what I'd do. I would make out it was all going terribly."

Chris, who recently signed a three-year deal to front the programme, sparked concern among fans earlier this month when he was spotted being sick following a drive in a plush Audi R8 V10 with co-star Sabine Schmitz.

James added: "The picture of Chris supposedly being sick while he was driving a car. Was he being sick? I look a lot more contorted when I'm sick."

Meanwhile, despite claiming 'Top Gear' is faking the problems, James is keen for Chris to do well.

He said recently: "I'd like to see Chris' 'Top Gear' do well. It's a ballsy call to continue it. I wouldn't want to be the one presenting it when we'd just finished, but there must be a way of reinventing it. We always said it would survive beyond us."

'Top Gear' is set to return to screens on May 8.

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