The Stig is well known for his appearances on BBC’s popular television series Top Gear. When he was hired to appear on the motoring show, he was relatively unknown, and his appearance in a white racing suit was quite mysterious.
On the show, he raced cars at very high speeds, and he taught a variety of TV celebrities how to get the top time on Top Gear’s TV circuit in selected cars. Today, millions of people worldwide have watched the show, and the Stig himself has developed quite the devoted fan base.
Appearances on Top Gear by the Stig were always quite strange and filled with mystery. His identity was always kept secret, and apart from a few people who worked on the show, it was not known who he really was in order to keep the show more enjoyable for viewers.
This worked well, at least until the Stig announced that he wished to write and publish an autobiography. The BBC fought against the release of the book, The Man In The White Suit, but HarperCollins was eventually permitted to release and publish the book.
It was revealed then that the Stig was actually driver Ben Collins, a past member of the Special Air Service. Unfortunately for fans of the character, James May has reportedly said that the character of the Stig will be killed off and replaced by a new driver. Apparently, he will suffer the same fate as the black Stig before him, who was killed on the show back in 2003 when he drove off a cliff.
