article: Richard Hammond has ruled out returning to Top Gear, becoming the final presenter to leave the motoring show as he vowed: 'I won't quit my mates'. In yet another major blow to the BBC, the presenter took to Twitter to reveal he would not be returning to the hugely-popular series. The announcement came as the show's former executive producer Andy Wilman launched a scathing attack on 'meddling BBC executives' in a Top Gear Magazine editorial, published today. Yesterday, Mr Wilman, who is a childhood friend of Clarkson, sensationally quit the Corporation - fuelling speculation that the team is gearing up to launch a similar show with a rival broadcaster. The men were also seen holding talks at Clarkson's west London home, in their first public appearance since the presenter was axed from the show over a  'fracas' with a producer. Later last night, Clarkson was seen enjoying a drink with friends in a west London pub. Scroll down for video . Richard Hammond (pictured meeting his former co-stars yesterday) has ruled out returning to Top Gear, becoming the final presenter to leave the motoring show . Hammond took to Twitter to announce that he would not 'quit my mates' Jeremy Clarkson and James May . Jeremy Clarkson was seen out for a drink with friends last night, stopping at pub in west London after meeting with former Top Gear co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May, as well as producer Andy Wilman . Clarkson (seen enjoying a drink with a group yesterday evening) and Mr Wilman were put under pressure to hire a female presenter in 2002 by the BBC, the producer said . Mr Wilman (pictured with Clarkson,  Hammond and May yesterday) has launched a scathing attack on the 'meddling' BBC just a day after he quit the show . Following the spate of high-profile announcements, Hammond today broke his silence, tweeting: 'To be clear amidst all this talk of us 'quitting' or not: there's nothing for me to 'quit'. Not about to quit my mates anyway.' Top Gear Magazine, which is owned by BBC Worldwide, today published an editorial by Mr Wilman, in which the producer branded the decision to sack Clarkson a 'tragedy'. He said: ‘[The BBC] hasn’t just lost a man who can hold viewers’ attention in front of a camera, it’s lost a journalist who could use the discipline of print training to focus on what mattered and what didn’t, it’s lost an editorial genius who could look at an existing structure and then smash it up and reshape it in a blaze of light bulb moments’. He said chiefs at the corporation also originally vetoed hiring May, claiming the three were all ‘middle-class public-schoolish blokes of a similar age’. The astonishing feature ends speculation as to the reasons behind Mr Wilman's decision to quit the BBC - which was announced by corporation bosses yesterday evening. Mr Wilman also criticised attempts by the BBC to second-guess decisions about Top Gear's return in 2002 despite not being interested in the show’s subject matter. He said: ‘The BBC grown-ups were adamant a woman should be in the line-up. 'Now, I'm a big, big fan of the Beeb, but, my God, do they stretch your patience when they start “applying their marketing logic”, or to use another word, meddling. Clarkson - who is a childhood friend of Mr Wilman - and his friends appeared to be reading something in the pub . Night out: Clarkson (pictured at the pub last night) was sacked from the BBC after his 'fracas' with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon . Mr Wilman, who is a childhood friend of Clarkson (pictured with Hammond and May yesterday), also branded the BBC’s decision to sack the presenter a ‘tragedy’ Mr Wilman said the BBC originally vetoed having Clarkson, Hammond (pictured shaking hands yesterday) and May as the Top Gear line-up . ‘Their theory behind a female presenter was that if you want women to watch something, you need women presenting it. 'The problem was that most of the grown-ups in the BBC management didn't care about the car world, and basically there's this weird logic whereby the less their interest is in the subject, the greater their compulsion becomes to meddle.’ Mr Wilman sensationally resigned from the BBC yesterday, following a meeting with the three former presenters at Clarkson's flat in west London. It means he is now free to reunite with the team on a rival channel, in what would be a nightmare scenario for the corporation. Clarkson, who presented the original Top Gear series up until 2001, and Mr Wilman auditioned a series of women for the role but eventually refused to compromise on their vision of their programme. The producer said: ‘[We] had already started to realise that bloke banter was going to become an important part of the show’. They pitched the new-look programme to Jane Root, then head of BBC2, as a ‘journey into that massive black hole that is the male brain’, complete with all-male presenting line up. Root, who now runs an independent production company, said she had no problem with the lack of a woman, which Mr Wilman said displays ‘a classic case of BBC management playing their favourite game of Second Guess The Person In The Bigger Office.’ Even after winning this battle, the pair faced further problems trying to hire the team they wanted. The BBC said the Clarkson, 55, Hammond, 45, and May, 52, were ‘a bit cheese and cheese’, meaning they were too similar in age and background. Bosses blocked May’s appointment, instead opting for Jason Dawe, who Mr Wilman points out ‘was fairly middle-class and of a similar age’. He was replaced by May the following series. Mr Wilman, a childhood friend of Clarkson (pictured meeting yesterday), said the BBC pressured the pair to hire a female presenter . Clarkson, Hammond and May could reunite with Wilman to start a new motoring show on a different channel . The producer (left) said there was also a dispute over whether The Stig (right) should be named The Gimp, but this was with with racing driver Perry McCarthy . The original idea was to call him ‘The Gimp’ after the sex slave character in film Pulp Fiction but Mr Wilman revealed that McCarthy, who was the first person to take on the mantle of The Stig, insisted on this being changed. Yesterday, May ruled out returning to Top Gear without Clarkson, insisting it would be 'lame' with a new presenter in place of his sacked co-host. The 52-year-old said the BBC would be ‘stupid’ to try a version of the programme with 'a surrogate Jeremy', Hammond and himself - adding that the idea was a ‘non-starter’. His comments mean that if the show does return next year, it will likely be with an entirely new presenting team. Both May and Hammond saw their contracts finish last month. May told The Guardian: ‘Me and Hammond with a surrogate Jeremy is a non-starter, it just wouldn’t work. That would be lame, or “awks” as young people say. ‘It has to be the three of us. You can’t just put a surrogate Jeremy in and expect it to carry on. It would be forced. I don’t believe they would be stupid enough to try that. ‘It doesn’t mean I won’t go back - we may all go back in the future. It might just be we have a break from it. I don’t know. It would be a bloody tough call to do Top Gear without Jeremy.’ Former X Factor host Dermot O'Leary, model Jodie Kidd and Great British Bake Off host Sue Perkins have all been named as possible replacements for Clarkson. Speaking after the meeting yesterday, May said he had just been 'having a pint' with his co-stars and Mr Wilman, adding that he still didn't know what he would do in the future. While the three presenters have all now left Top Gear, they will still reunite for their live stadium tour later this year - now called Clarkson, Hammond & May Live. A BBC spokeswoman said: 'These comments from Andy Wilman were made in an article published last week before his resignation. Furthermore, the comments refer to events more than a decade ago.' DERMOT O'LEARY (6/4) Bookmakers’ favourite O'Leary, 41, is currently being lined up to host a different prime-time BBC One motoring show - after ending his eight-year stint as host of ITV's The X Factor last month. PHILIP GLENISTER (11/4) Car enthusiast Glenister, 52, known for playing a politically-incorrect police detective in TV series Life on Mars, is presenting the second series of For the Love of Cars on Channel 4. JODIE KIDD (5/1) The 36-year-old model owns a number of cars, co-presents The Classic Car Show on Channel 5 and achieved one of the fastest lap times as a Top Gear 'Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car'. GUY MARTIN (13/2) The 33-year-old motorcycle star made Channel 4 programme Speed, and said last month: 'I don’t want to try and be the man who replaced Jeremy Clarkson, but never say never.' Favourites: Presenter Dermot O'Leary, actor Philip Glenister, model Jodie Kidd and motorcyclist Guy Martin . CHRIS EVANS (8/1) BBC Radio 2 host Evans, 49, another well-known car enthusiast, has been tipped as a favourite - but told listeners last month that claims he would replace Clarkson were 'absolute nonsense'. SUE PERKINS (10/1) Great British Bake Off host Sue Perkins, 45, was named as the favourite a fortnight ago, but this prompted a barrage of abusive tweets from ‘blokes wishing me dead’, which saw her quit Twitter. STEPHEN FRY (14/1) QI presenter Stephen Fry, 57, has appeared on Top Gear twice - but has been repeatedly prosecuted for speeding and managed to crash and write off the Reasonably-Priced Car. STEVE COOGAN (14/1) A tongue-in-cheek petition signed by more than 34,000 people is calling on the BBC to hire fictional broadcaster Alan Partridge - played by 49-year-old Coogan - as the new presenter. Fifth to eight: Chris Evans, Sue Perkins, Stephen Fry and Steve Coogan are also said to be in the running . Odds supplied by bookmaker Paddy Power .
highlights: Richard Hammond has become the final presenter to leave Top Gear .
  Former producer Andy Wilman also accused BBC of 'meddling' with show .
  Attack in Top Gear Magazine came day after he sensationally quit BBC .
  Jeremy Clarkson was seen plotting their next move in a pub last night .
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