It remains to be seen who will be at its helm, with presenters Richard Hammond and James May tipped not to return despite multi-million overtures from the BBC for them to present it alongside a different guest presenter each week.
"He is the outstanding football presenter of his generation, combining great authority from his very distinguished playing career with wonderful broadcasting instincts and sharpness – making him a true star performer".
He thanked the X Factor host, Dermot O'Leary, and Caroline Flack, the presenter of its ITV2 spin-off show The Xtra Factor, before appearing briefly to forget the name of the show's new co-host, Matt Richardson.
During a "showdown" with presenter Alex Brooker, who deployed a "bullshit buzzer" when he was unhappy with the quality of the Liberal Democrat leader's answers, Clegg faced a barrage of tricky questions.
The presenter asked why childless couples should be asked to fund other people's offspring.
He was the main presenter of BBC Breakfast for a number of years.
Piers Morgan, who has had a number of public spats with Clarkson over several years, also weighed in to suggest he would be available to replace the presenter.
Although there had been little response to the incident from Clarkson, whose manager and personal assistant refused to return calls on Tuesday evening, the presenter did reply on Twitter to his on-screen partners, Richard Hammond and James May.
Job: presenter, BBC Radio 2 Age: 46 Industry: broadcasting New entry The king is dead – long live the king?
Even as the presenter delivers her introduction you can see four-wheel vehicles blocking the blue.
Jenni Murray is a presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour I would not like to live in a country that was entirely secular.
