#2199 - Chris Harris

Joe Rogan (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Chris Harris (0:12)

So, before you press the chord, I have, I'll go most places, and I'm here because I want to tell people the truth about the last eight. I've had a pretty shit two years, because Top Gear ended in a way that most Americans won't know, but my colleague nearly died in a crash. And then they left us in limbo a bit. I've never told anyone anything about it, largely because my friend and colleague who was nearly killed in the accident called Andrew Flintoff, who was a presenter on the show. Again, no Americans want to know who he is, but he's a massive sports hero in the UK. He plays that weird game called cricket. He was like our best cricket player.

Joe Rogan (0:48)

Can we use this?

Chris Harris (0:49)

Yeah, no, we can. I just want to give you a quick foretaste of it. I'm here to say some things that people won't have heard before, and they'll make them gasp a bit.

Joe Rogan (0:58)

Because we're recording now? Yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_3 (1:01)

I wasn't on him, though.

Joe Rogan (1:02)

What's that?

SPEAKER_3 (1:02)

I wasn't on him, but you said that.

Joe Rogan (1:04)

Okay.

Chris Harris (1:04)

That's fine. Were you on me? Yeah, yeah. I'm going to go into it all. Okay. But it might be that what seems quite revelatory to me.

Joe Rogan (1:11)

Anyway, good to see you, since we're rolling. Cheers, sir.

Chris Harris (1:13)

Ten years.

Joe Rogan (1:14)

Yeah, it's been a while.

Chris Harris (1:15)

And do you know what? I don't ever listen to what I say or watch what I record. I don't watch my own shows.

Joe Rogan (1:21)

Good for you.

Chris Harris (1:22)

You probably don't either, do you?

Joe Rogan (1:23)

I don't, no.

Chris Harris (1:23)

No. It's good for the soul. Once it's done, it's buried.

Joe Rogan (1:26)

Exactly.

Chris Harris (1:27)

But I think I came to see you about a month before I received a phone call saying, do you want to do this television show called Top Gear?

Joe Rogan (1:36)

Yeah, it was before Top Gear for sure.

Chris Harris (1:38)

Yeah. And I think it was then. And I think at that point, I'd been fielding a lot of questions about, well, why would you follow Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear? And I'd gone, no one would do that. They'd be an idiot to do that.

And then I looked at the monthly payments I needed to live my life and I got offered a bit of, not much money, but some money. I thought I'll give it a go. But most importantly, I thought the 17-year-old me, if he saw me say no to this job would punch me in the face.

Joe Rogan (2:03)

Right.

Chris Harris (2:03)

Because it's my dream job.

Joe Rogan (2:04)

Right.

Chris Harris (2:04)

And I know that Top Gear is a weird thing in the US. Because I think many US people are aware of it, that it exists. But they've never really seen it because it never was put on a big network here.

Joe Rogan (2:14)

Yeah, but it became very popular on YouTube.

Chris Harris (2:16)

It did.

Joe Rogan (2:17)

Yeah. I mean, it's a great show. It was a great show. Yeah.

Chris Harris (2:20)

I mean, whether my era of Top Gear will be considered great, I don't know. I had lots of fun making it, but following in Jeremy's footsteps was on reflection, a decision.

I made the wrong call. I shouldn't have done it.

Joe Rogan (2:31)

Really?

Chris Harris (2:32)

Yeah. I had a great time. But you try following him in the UK.

Joe Rogan (2:36)

Just because of how much he's loved and yeah.

Chris Harris (2:38)

Yeah. I didn't realize how deep rooted it was. I still get hate mail now. I still get hate mail.

Joe Rogan (2:44)

Yeah. You could have had the exact same show under a different name and people would have loved it.

Chris Harris (2:49)

Yeah. I think we made some good films and I love what I did. But even if we made a good film, it was always shit because it wasn't Jeremy.

Joe Rogan (2:56)

I really enjoyed it though. I enjoyed you being on it. You're great. You're my favorite automotive journalist.

Chris Harris (3:03)

Well, that's very kind of you. I've just seen what you've arrived in as well and I thoroughly approve your taste in motor vehicles. Am I allowed to say what it is or not?

Joe Rogan (3:10)

Yeah. It's a Raptor R that John Hennessy jumps up to a thousand horsepower. It's fucking ridiculous.