View Full Version : Top Gear’s Stig is unmasked
Not sure if anyone is interested but.......
The Stig has officially been unmasked after the High Court refused to grant a temporary injunction preventing the revelation of Top Gear's racing driver.
Ben Collins has been named as the man behind the mask after the BBC took legal action to block publication of an autobiography by HarperCollins which would have revealed his identity.
James May told the BBC upon hearing the news: "Obviously I'm now going to have to take some legal action of my own, because I have been the Stig for the past seven years, and I don't know who this bloke is, who's mincing around in the High Court pretending it's him."
We revealed the man behind the Stig back in January 2009. This is what we said at the time: the identity of Top Gear's mysterious Stig has been one of the best kept secrets in television.
But after years of intense public curiosity it has been revealed that he is a 33-year-old racing driver from Bristol.
Ben Collins is the mystery man behind the white mask, a former American NASCAR, Formula 3 driver and Daniel Craig stunt double.
Famed for his on-the-limit driving style, the Stig's identity is normally protected because he never removes his trademark white helmet or racing suit and never talks on camera.
However, the secret apparently came out when a Bristol newspaper ran a story claiming that Collins was at a Bristol photo studio where limited-edition prints of the Stig were being produced.The media has long known who the Stig is but has refrained from revealing his true identity.
A Top Gear spokesman said: "We never comment on speculation as to who or what the Stig is."
Rumour has it that if the Stig's identity was ever revealed the driver could be sacked from Top Gear.
From here.
http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=147864564&ocid=today
wonderlust
01-09-10, 18:44
Next series meet the red stig ;) (Or what ever other colour they choose)
callumburns
01-09-10, 18:47
i just seen that on the news :) i thought it would have been like a more well known racing driver than him though
I thought they said it Was Michael Shoe maker? :D
No, it wasn't 'Shoe Maker' [lmfao]
This is unfortunate, the mystery of the stig was part of the magic of the show.
i want pedro - the stig's fat spanish cousin to appear on a show again :)
i want pedro - the stig's fat spanish cousin to appear on a show again :)
Hahaha! Made me giggle :P.
ben collins is the 3rd stig each time they get revealed they get replaced...
My personal fave Stig moment has to be the race across London, Pushbike Vs Car Vs Boat Vs Stig on public transport. Just him being wheeled along on a sack-truck to the start line was enough for me :)
3rd Stig?
I thought he's the 2nd
Ben Collins was thought to have been the stig back when hammond had his big crash because all the papers and news reported that 'hammond's co-workers May, Clarkson and Ben Collins who tests high perfomance cars for the show'
It was something along those lines anyway :)
ben collins is the 3rd stig each time they get revealed they get replaced...
I'm sure there has only been two stigs, Perry McCarthy and Ben Collins?
Mr. Strawberry
01-09-10, 19:41
another one bites the dusts :D
who wants to take bets on who the 3rd stig is going to be and what colour :D
Certainly will replace him now
They will start a new board now for the cars going round the track. Or at least they should as the main variable will have changed!
Ben Collins was sort of revealed last year when a camera flash went through his visor. Plus his driving style was the same, anyone who really wanted to know could find out online.
another one bites the dusts :D
who wants to take bets on who the 3rd stig is going to be and what colour :D
Rainbow coloured! :nana:.
(Waits for snakedoc to tell me I'm gay because of that statement).
Mr. Strawberry
01-09-10, 19:58
pink and
that gay guy they had when they got the new celeb car :D
got to be either stig's african cousin or fat american cousin
I do think come the next series they'll be a new stig. Part of the fun of the show is that stig is anonymous. I wish they'd have kept it secret but hey the show will go on with a new stig that i'm sure of.
redrooster303
01-09-10, 20:46
shame.
how will they kill him off though?
I'm sure there has only been two stigs, Perry McCarthy and Ben Collins?
Your right Perry McCarthy was the first stig know as the The Black Stig and Ben Collins took over from him around 2003/4 know as the white stig
maybe they will get Sabine Schmitz and have Mrs Stig lol
I haad heard a while ago that it was Ben Collins, not too much of a secret
maybe they will get Sabine Schmitz and have Mrs Stig lol
Watched 'todays' Top gear on dave too?
I haad heard a while ago that it was Ben Collins, not too much of a secret
They have been saying it for years :p
how will they kill him off though?
last time they used an aircraft carrier and an old jag.
Lets make one thing perfectly clear here Ben Collins wrote a book about being the stick and his book publisher then outed him to gain publicity for the book after a bit of legal arguing with the BBC.
whether he will make more money selling the book than he would of being the stig I dont know but i doubt it.
basically Ben Collins wanted to go public and to make as much money as possible doing it. I think that makes him a :censored:
last time they used an aircraft carrier and an old jag.
Lets make one thing perfectly clear here Ben Collins wrote a book about being the stick and his book publisher then outed him to gain publicity for the book after a bit of legal arguing with the BBC.
whether he will make more money selling the book than he would of being the stig I dont know but i doubt it.
basically Ben Collins wanted to go public and to make as much money as possible doing it. I think that makes him a :censored:
Depends if the BBC was using all its money to pay for helicopters to film 2 idiots being idiots (James May FTW) instead of paying the Stig a decent wage.
Its not mercenary at all, he has as much right to stick his face on endorsements as the other three, they get megabucks for advertising this that and the other, what can Ben Colins hope for to make a decent wage ?
His book, then possibly a driving school using the Stig name as a draw, thats about it, i say good luck to him, hes had a good innings.
EDIT: He's been the Stig for 7 years and 13 seasons, thats long enough :D
At one time I would have agreed with that Wayne, don't you think that the formerly awesome Mr May is now slipping into Clarkson mode?
I used to love the way he was so different to the others, I just feel that over the last few shows he has started to become more like them.....a shame really.
I don't watch it any more mate.
Still prefer the black stig anyway - And Perry Mcarthy's autobiography is hilarious.
Oo didn't know this.
Thanks for posting.
Will see what colour stig they bring out next xD
Mr. Strawberry
05-09-10, 14:00
yellow stig lol
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2908971213_65c7a1fa2f.jpg?v=0
No, it wasn't 'Shoe Maker' [lmfao]
This is unfortunate, the mystery of the stig was part of the magic of the show.
Actually it was, that day. Although Ben Collins has been the stig for about 95% of the time since 2002 when the white stig was introduced, the beauty of the hidden identity is that other drivers can stand in when the main stig is unavailable, or, as in the case of Fxx Ferrari (and the Renault F1 car) when the car manufacturer wants to use their own driver the substitution can be easily made and the viewer is non-the wiser.
Take this with good humour:
I feel sorry for the McCanns.
Maddie being The Stig was their last hope.
BreadMurderer
06-09-10, 13:03
One of Stig's cousins will not doubt take over... ;-)
I reckon collies was the stig much less than 95% of the time.
But top gears been crap for 10 years anyway. I dont see all the fuss about the new format
I still think its pretty good!
Some of them aren't so good, but the specials are always funny.
theelusiveyoda
06-09-10, 15:49
hey didnt snakedoc recently get a new job hmmmm................................
SNAKEDOC IS THE NEW STIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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