Rory Reid

Early life Rory Reid was born in 1979 in London, and grew up in the South London district of South Norwood. He began writing car reviews at a young age.

The first car he owned was a Ford Fiesta.

Career Journalism Reid worked for the website CNET.com, where he was senior editor, and at Personal Computer World magazine. and as editor-in-chief for the Recombu, a review and comparison website covering cars, mobile phones, broadband and television,

Reid is a contributing editor to Top Gear magazine and has contributed to the BBC Online, The Telegraph, Bloomberg, CBS, Sky, and others. He has also presented the ITV4 show, Speed Freaks, and is a regular contributor to BBC's The One Show. He also said joining the series had been "like being a soldier parachuted into a war" and the challenge of taking over from the previous presenters was "like the Wu-Tang Clan taking over from One Direction".

After that series, Evans resigned from the programme, with Reid and Harris joining LeBlanc as a trio of main hosts for the following three series. The Irish Times described Reid as "Top Gear's best 'find' since the Clarkson era", and "has an infectious schoolboy enthusiasm". He has also presented the ITV4 show, Speed Freaks.

In April 2016, it was announced that Reid would also present Top Gear's new sister show Extra Gear along with Harris. The pair presented the show for its first series, with comedian George Lewis joining them as a main presenter for the second series.

Speed Freaks and Fifth Gear Recharged

In 2021 Reid began hosting the newly renamed Fifth Gear Recharged on Discovery+ and Quest, along with Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jason Plato and Karun Chandhok. The show is a continuation of the original Fifth Gear series (which was created as a continuation of the original 1977 Top Gear series) but focuses purely on electric and hybrid drive vehicles.

Web Auto Trader

In December 2019, Reid joined Auto Trader as Director of YouTube content. He serves as the main presenter on the channel, fronting car reviews, drag races and guides to help buyers choose a car. Reid said of his new role at the time, “Auto Trader has been a near-permanent fixture in my web browser for as long as I can remember, so having the opportunity to help others find their perfect car is a true career highlight.”

CNET and other channels Reid launched and presented CNET's Car Tech channel, and was also the presenter on the YouTube channel Fast, Furious & Funny which features 'high octane car action', pranks and celebrity guests. He also fronted videos for Recombu, during one of which he damaged his knee by vaulting into a convertible. and drew widespread positive attention.

In October 2020, Reid presented an episode of Fully Charged reviewing the Honda e electric car.

In January 2021 it was announced that Reid was to front an E-Sports series in a campaign with McLaren and British American Tobacco (BAT) in order to enable them to reach their customers "in new, exciting and engaging ways" to push the addictive nicotine pouch brand VELO. He appears in the series alongside other UK stars including Craig David.

Filmography

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