who was the stig
The Stig wasn’t just one person; several professional racing drivers have played the character on Top Gear over the years.
The Core Answer
- The first Stig (the “Black Stig”) was racing driver Perry McCarthy, who wore a black suit for the early revived seasons before the character was “killed off.”
- The best‑known White Stig was Ben Collins, a British racing driver and stunt driver who secretly did most of the power laps until his identity became public in 2010 via his autobiography The Man in the White Suit.
- In 2024, Jeremy Clarkson finally confirmed that the third and final long‑term Stig was Phil Keen, a highly successful British GT and Le Mans driver who wore the white suit from around 2010 to 2022.
Top Gear also used stand‑ins and guest drivers (including a famous one‑off reveal with Michael Schumacher as “The Stig”), but the main ongoing identities were McCarthy, Collins, and Keen.
Quick HTML table of the main Stigs
| Era / version | Real identity | Suit colour | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early 2000s revival | Perry McCarthy | [1][3][7]Black | Original “Black Stig”; written out after two seasons with a joke “death.” | [3][7][1]
| Mid‑2000s to 2010 | Ben Collins | [5][7][1][3]White | Most famous Stig; identity exposed through his book, leading to his departure in 2010. | [7][1][5]
| 2010s to 2022 | Phil Keen | [4][1][7]White | Confirmed by Jeremy Clarkson in 2024 as the third and final long‑term Stig. | [1][7]
| One‑off / specials | Michael Schumacher & various stand‑ins | [9][3][4]White | Schumacher did a famous FXX cameo; other pros occasionally subbed for specific cars or laps. | [9][3][4]
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.