‘TFI Friday’ may be returning to Channel 4 later this year after its successful comeback, but its presenter Chris Evans has revealed that after the planned crop of shows he is “not allowed” to present any further series because of his ‘Top Gear’ duties.

The off-the-wall ‘90s favourite returned for a one-off special to celebrate its twentieth anniversary in June this year and was well-received (except for Lewis Hamilton killing the momentum stone dead at the end), but Evans has conceded that his BBC duties must take priority after the planned 10-episode series of ‘TFI Friday’ finishes.

Chris EvansChris Evans will not present any more 'TFI Friday' episodes after this year

“This is the long goodbye, I am not allowed to do any more ‘TFI Friday’,” he told an audience on Tuesday (September 29th) at the Radio Festival in London. However, he was insistent that the heavy workload would not disrupt his attempts to reinvent ‘Top Gear’, bearing in mind that he also presents a weekday breakfast show on BBC Radio 2.

“It may or may not be true, I honestly do think time is in the mind. You always find the time to do what you want to do, what you need to do,” he said. “I do think now I am busier than I have ever been but I have never had more spare time because I am more organised. Before I did the whole Alice Cooper thing where you have to live the life to portray the life, you don’t really have to do that.”

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“Warmth is hugely important in mass entertainment… I would love to be spikier, I would love to be a bit edgier sometimes but that’s not my job at the moment,” he said, possibly offering ‘Top Gear’ fans a clue as to his presentational style when he tries to fill Jeremy Clarkson’s sizeable shoes when the motoring show (eventually) returns in May 2016.

Speaking about the 20th anniversary of ‘TFI Friday’, Evans revealed that he was much more relaxed this time around. “That was the happiest I have ever been on television. A lot of the time when we were doing 'TFI Friday' we were literally flying by the seat of our pants, it was hell to live through. With the [anniversary edition] of 'TFI' we knew we had a golden programme to present, we were more relaxed so we could go and enjoy it.”

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