Who is Chris Harris and what is his Road Tripping show with Paddy McGuiness about?

Date: 2024-10-29

OVER the years Chris Harris has become a much-loved TV star.

Best known for Top Gear, he returned to TV with Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping, which saw him and good pal Paddy McGuinness travel around Europe.

a bald man with a beard and a microphone on his neck
Chris Harris is a popular TV star and journalist
Rex

Chris Harris was born on January 27, 1975 and is a journalist who has made a career in the automotive field as a writer, presenter and driver.

He was born in Buckinghamshire and got his start as a journalist by writing for Autocar magazine.

Chris went on to appear in a series of YouTube videos and created his own show Chris Harris On Cars.

That show was later bought and moved to the BBC‘s website.

Before moving over to the main programme, Chris and Rory Reid hosted the Top Gear spin-off show called Extra Gear.

Chris also races and has taken part in the Nurburgring 24 hours endurance test three times in 2010, 2015 and 2016.

However, his team had to pull out of the 2016 race after their car was wrecked in a practice round.

Top Gear journey

In February 2016, Harris officially joined the cast of Top Gear.

He had served as an occasional presenter for Top Gear before he was promoted to a main host.

Chris originally presented the series alongside co-hosts Matt LeBlanc and Rory Reid.

He then hosted the show with Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness before the show was shelved due to Freddie’s crash.

Teaming up with Paddy again

Chris reunited with his good friend Paddy f0r their BBC show, Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping.

The show aired in autumn 2024 for three episodes and saw them travel Europe together looking for a healthier lifestyle.

In episode one, Paddy and Chris headed to Sweden,

a man in a red suit with the word alpinestars on it
Chris is known for hosting Top Gear with Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness
BBC

They were seen embracing the Nordic mindset of ‘friluftsliv’, which means getting back to nature and the great outdoors.

For the second leg of their European health adventure, they touched down on the rocky Greek island of Ikaria, nicknamed the island of longevity.

I could mention many things about the enigma that is Chris Harris, but alongside all the laughs and banter, we genuinely learn a lot about ourselves and each other on this trip, which has been eye-opening.

Paddy McGuinness

The final episode, the two friends were in Switzerland, where they explored its multi-million-pound wellness industry.

Speaking about working with Chris again, Paddy told the BBC: “I could mention many things about the enigma that is Chris Harris, but alongside all the laughs and banter, we genuinely learn a lot about ourselves and each other on this trip, which has been eye-opening.

“I have also learnt, however, that Chris has terrible taste in music and should never be given control of the car radio again!”

On a more serious note, he added: “There were some moments where we both really did some soul searching and thought about how we can make the most of the years ahead of us.”

Chris teamed up again with Paddy for their show, Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping
BBC

While Chris said: “Paddy and I have been good friends for many years and we have spent a lot of time together, so I thought I knew him pretty well.

“But this soul-searching mission has definitely changed us; we’ve learnt a lot about each other and ourselves. It’s been great to experience that with Paddy.”

Married with kids

Chris is reportedly married with three children.

However, he keeps much of his personal life private and does not share pictures of his family.

Instead, he chooses to only share his passion for cars publicly.

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