Cool your jets there, Top Gear fans frothing at the mouth. No, the BBC haven’t done a 180 and asked Jeremy Clarkson to once again front the much-revered car show. He will, however, be returning to the BBC as a guest host on the show Have I Got News for You on 24 April.

Clarkson has hosted the show on a number of occasions in the past, including one appearance in 2008 when he threw a pen and caused a cut to the face of Ian Hislop. So how come he can return to the screen so soon after being cut from Top Gear? Here’s the BBC:

“Jeremy’s contract has not been renewed on Top Gear but he isn’t banned from appearing on the BBC,” a BBC spokesman said.

In more Clarkson-related news (we know how much you love it) the producers of Top Gear are fiddling with the last footage filmed from the show to bash out the final episodes. This from The Week:

…the fate of the footage filmed before Jeremy Clarkson was dropped from Top Gear  hangs in the balance, with BBC sources suggesting that the final episodes of the series may be left unfinished…

Last week Top Gear’s executive producer Andy Wilman announced that he was working on salvaging material from the final episodes. There is thought to be enough footage for two more episodes featuring Clarkson alongside co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond.

I expect many tears during the final episodes that feature Clarkson. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.

[sources:bbc&theweek]