Not to be confused with the frontman of The Streets, Mike Skinner is a seasoned racing driver. Active in NASCAR since 1986, the 60-year-old leadfoot also happens to be The Grand Tour’s tame racing driver. Oh wait, the “tame racing driver” is from another motoring show of British origin, isn’t it?
As it happens, Skinner’s role in The Grand Tour didn’t work out as Jeremy, Richard, James, and executive producer Andy Wilman were expecting. Fans of the show took to Amazon Prime to complain about the forced persona of The American, and for what it’s worth, stereotyping is best reserved to Hollywood.
At this point, it’s not known how the production team talked Skinner out of the show, but one thing is for certain. According to the man himself, “I won’t be joining the guts on @thegrandtour 2nd season.” The reason for Skinner’s departure is that his “character wasn’t developed as I was told.” Reading between the lines, someone on the production team didn’t think The American through, obnoxiously stereotypical American chatter behind the wheel and all.
More intriguingly, Skinner agrees with many of us his role “sucked.” On the upside, “I enjoyed some of those cars I got to drive.” To understand how unconvincing the character was made to be for comedic purposes, those of you who haven’t watched The Grand Tour yet must know that The American hates non-V8 cars.
It remains to be seen who will replace the stock car racing driver on the show for the second season, which will premiere on Amazon Prime on December 8, 2017. As ever, look forward to three middle-aged men arguing and rampaging around the world in the most exclusive cars on sale today. Oh, and by the way, there’s something you need to know about the green tent. And that is, the studio tent is no longer engaged in a grand tour of the world.
FYI I won't be joining the guys on @thegrandtour 2nd season - I wish them all the luck. My character wasn't developed as I was told.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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