News of Chris Evan's resignation as Top Gear host has spawned hilarious memes and tweets. Minutes after the Radio 2 DJ announced that he was stepping down after "giving my best shot", social media erupted with reactions which ranged from sadness to feigned shock.

Evans said via Twitter: "Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best. Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future."

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The revamped show has been blighted with reports of behind-the-scenes drama and plummeting ratings. Sunday's finale attracted just over 1.9m viewers, a drop of nearly 50% from the first episode of the series' 4.3m.

The BBC also confirmed that Top Gear USA, a spin-off of the UK show, has been cancelled. The US show has been running since 2010 and has aired 72 episodes across six seasons on the History Channel.

Since news of his exit come hours after Ukip leader Nigel Farage quit, members of the online community couldn't resist the opportunity to reference the the recent spat of high-profile resignations.

But it wasn't all bad. Some fans praised Evans on his efforts to revive the show after it lost original hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.