The word is that Matt LeBlanc has threatened to quit Top Gear unless Chris Evans is fired. No denials so far from the BBC. So it could well be true.

Certainly, the gruesome twosome don’t exactly exude on-screen chemistry. And, it would seem, they’re far from friends when the cameras stop rolling.

According to the latest reports, nice guy Matt isn’t a fan of the “rude and frosty” way Chris treats the staff. The angry American is said to have delivered an ultimatum to Beeb bosses: Either he goes…. or I do.

With one instalment of the decidedly lacklustre born-again car show to go, it’s fair to say the new, unimproved Evans version hasn’t been an unmitigated triumph. Viewing figures have plummeted to record lows and the truth is the fans are missing Clarkson & Co badly.

Nevertheless, after the B-team suffered a ratings death in Venice, they chugged into episode five and the audience increased by a modest 300,000. Despite the fact that it was deeply dull programme.

Sadly, regardless of the slight reversal of fortune, it’s now clear that Top Gear Lite will never match the defiantly un-PC production proudly presented by Jeremy and his genuine pals. It looks the same but it isn’t the same. Blander and not as funny.

If Matt no longer wants to share the stage with old Carrot Top, that’s his decision. But the unhappy Hollywood hunk might like to note that as long as shouty Evans is in the room, he looks good by comparison.

So do dynamic duo Chris Harris and Rory Reid, the excellent motoring journalists who may yet be the key to a brighter future. These guys know their stuff and their energetic contributions have knocked Evans’ insipid-but-deafening tosh into a cocked hat. Great DJ, fine live broadcaster… but he’s just not much cop on Top Gear. The weakest link.

In the end, we Brits probably missed the point. This is more about 50million quid’s worth of foreign sales than the handful of people watching at home. That’s why the new version stuck rigidly to Clarkson’s old format. Because, if you don’t speak English you won’t spot the difference. Never mind the UK, think global and ker-ching.

Ironically, LeBlanc was hired to maintain Top Gear’s popularity in the States, where no one has ever heard of Chris Evans. But ratings have nosedived there as well. Fail.

Meanwhile, proving that God and the BBC work in mysterious ways, executives at the Beeb insist they are pleased with how the new show has performed. God knows why. Evans, of course, has stopped his hilarious pretence that he’s presiding over a sensational smash hit. Everyone knows, it’s anything but that.

Anyway, when they start filming the next series in September the burning question is will Evans and LeBlanc still be a dysfunctional team? Will Matt have thrown in the towel? Or, whisper it quietly, will Chris be conspicuous by his absence? But could Crexit actually happen? Watch this space.