Top Gear’s former Stig, Ben Collins, has recently suggested the show now runs a sort of Who Wants to be The Stig? reality TV show to find the next future stunt driver.

In a recent Telegraph article in the UK, Ben Collins was interview by the publication and was quoted as saying,

“If I were working on the show I’d suggest they do a shoot out – a sort of Who Wants to Be the Stig? X Factor. People could turn up in balaclavas and they could all have a go.”

This could provide an interactive element to the Top Gear program, or it could even be run as a separate spin-off show. Speculators are saying though that the reason people enter reality-type TV programs is to find stardom and fame, and above all, to be recognised for a particular talent. If a Stig X Factor were to run, entrants would have to take the hidden identity element on board.

Other reports are saying the Stig character might even be removed from the show completely. After the Ben Collins identity was leaked, some say (no pun intended) the mystic element of the show is gone and producers should move into other areas. Collins said,

“That would be a real shame. It’s my belief The Stig lives forever.”

Collins also suggested Michael Schumacher become the new Stig. He said the last time Schumacher came to the studio he fit the white suit quite well. Collins later said that Schumacher has much bigger fish to fry though, and has Formula One to attend to.

Collins was axed from Top Gear recently after successfully taking the BBC to a high court which resulted in him being allowed to publish his new autobiography. The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, The Fast Lane And Me is scheduled to be published next month.

Meanwhile, Top Gear will continue to sort through the “thousands”, as quoted by Jeremy Clarkson in a recent WitneyTV interview, of hopeful applicants and decide whether or not the character should live on.