The answer to “Who Is The Stig?” - revealed as Michael Schumacher
The question “Who Is The Stig?” that has been asked by literally millions of fans of BBC TV’s Top Gear programme was last night revealed as Michael Schumacher, in an interviewer with presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
Co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond were nowhere to be seen as the mysterious ‘White Stig’ walked through the audience and took a seat with Clarkson. The Stig has never spoken to the camera, and when asked to remove his helmet joking shook his head to imply “no”.
But the D-rings on The Stig’s Simpson Racing helmet were clearly free, and the chin-strap unfastened.
Clarkson turned to the audience who started chanting for The Stig to remove his helmet and, slowly, he did just this to reveal none-other than a grinning Michael Schumacher underneath. Michael Schumacher is a retired Formula 1 racing driver, and you can read more about him on this page Michael Schumacher – A Short Biography.
It has been widely speculated that “The Stig” was a role shared by a number of drivers, including Damon Hill, but it is unlikely that Michael Schumacher would agree to have his name associated with another’s driving. As such this effectively puts paid to the speculation, at least as far as the man on the track is concerned, because it remains likely that an actor would have played the other roles (e.g. an appearance at the Motor Show, or travelling on the tube).
Quite why the Top Gear team decided to reveal The Stig’s identity on the opening programme of the new series is unclear, although the fact that their wings have been clipped with budget cuts brought on by the recession may well have some bearing on it.
Watch this space for more news as the story progresses (sign up via RSS or our newsletter feed to be kept updated); you may also use the social media icons to refer others to this page, and leave a comment below this post if you wish.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
How interesting! I had no idea!
Will mention it on Radio Bracknell (listen in at http://www.radiobracknell.com)
Regards, John
Errrr, its not Shumacher. It was a one-off publicity stunt.
Well done for falling for it though. haha
Hi, it’s true, I saw it myself.
Michael Schumacher is The Stig … The Stig is Michael Schumacher. I’ve been wondering for a long time, but now I know. Thanks for sharing on this blog too.