Putting aside my views on him as a person, Jeremy Clarkson is a horrible choice to host Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and here's why:

I have this theory that you can map TV quiz shows across an axis from shows where knowledge wins to shows where gambling wins, and the best TV quizzes fall in the middle of this spectrum.

This is why Jeopardy! is the perfect quiz show: it equally rewards people for knowing stuff and for taking risks, without allowing much guesswork or buffoonery to seep into that formula.

But Jeopardy! is a quintessentially American show, and Alex Trebek a quintessentially American quiz host – unshowy, funny, and, crucially, content to give the limelight to the contestants.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is the closest to the Centre that we've had in the UK. It's actually a great game, egging people on towards aggressive risk taking whilst increasingly rewarding knowledge as the game progresses (despite being multiple choice, which I hate).

The problem with UK Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was Chris Tarrant. He slowed it down, milked every question, hogged the limelight & mocked contestants. The structure of the game was so much more subtle than his hosting that great elements of pathos were lost to his performing.

Compare Tarrant's incessant face to Regis Philbin's civilian incredulity as John Carpenter becomes the first person to win the jackpot (and in such baller style, it's the best video on the internet)

For WWTBAM? to be the great British quiz show that it almost was (barring Charles Ingram, the greatest ever contestant) it needs a host who is a cipher through which audience, contestant and the quiz itself can project their personality.

And love him or hate him, Jeremy Clarkson isn't that person. He will put Tarrant's mugging for the camera to shame. We will be treated to jokes too lowbrow for Bradley Walsh on The Chase. And that's a shame because Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is almost a perfect show.