Image copyright Getty ImagesChris Evans has announced he is leaving his role as a presenter on Top Gear after one series.
He tweeted: "Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that"s not enough.
"I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause."
His resignation comes after falling ratings for the show – which hit a series low on Sunday night, with an average of 1.9 million viewers.
Evans joined Top Gear last June, after the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Clarkson was fired from the show after he punched a producer following a row about the provision of food late at night while filming on location.
Evans was later signed up to front the new series alongside with former Friends actor Matt LeBlanc.
Perry McCarthy, the original Top Gear Stig, told the BBC: "It"s sad for Chris but personally I was expecting such an announcement, I wasn"t expecting it this quickly but I did think that Chris would step down from it.
"Chris is an enormously popular radio presenter and TV show host but he hasn"t quite gelled with this show, he"s not really gelling with the viewers.
"It must be a little bit painful for him to receive this reaction from everybody and I don"t think he"d want to continue, I probably wouldn"t want to continue if I was getting constant criticism either.
"He really put his heart and soul in to it – for what it"s worth I thought it was a terrific programme – the reception which wasn"t great at the start has become better and better.
He added: "I"ve been to a couple of the recordings – it seemed like a really happy team, a really professional team. I"m kind of surprised and kind of not."
Vassos Alexander, sports presenter on Evans"s Radio 2 show, said Evans had indicated on Monday morning that he was considering leaving.
"I know that he was massively honoured and privileged to work on Top Gear and that statement is not just a statement," Alexander said.
"He [Evans] texted me what he"s written for his newspaper column and he"s described himself as a square peg in a round hole and I think that pretty much sums it up."
Writing on Twitter, Evans said he would continue with his other BBC commitments, including presenting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.
"Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future," he said.
In a statement released via the BBC, Evans added: "I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last 12 months.
"I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be."
It is not yet clear whether the other presenters will return for the next series.
Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, said: "Chris is stepping down from his duties on Top Gear. He says he gave it his best shot doing everything he could to make the show a success.
"He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team, to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be."
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Chris Evans stepping down from Top Gear
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