Suspended Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Oisin Tymon on Wednesday, March 18, have both given their version of last week's "fracas" to the BBC.
The Guardian reported that the pair allegedly met BBC Scotland head Ken MacQuarrie, who is leading the investigation.
Clarkson, who hosts Top Gear with co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond, was suspended on March 10 over allegations that he punched producer Oisin Tymon during a dispute over a meal. The rest of the season's episodes were cancelled.
Meanwhile, Clarkson has allegedly instructed his lawyers to demand a retraction from the BBC after a senior executive compared him with paedophile and rapist Jimmy Savile.
According to the Telegraph, Clarkson's friends revealed to the Daily Mail that he believes "it was a source connected with the office of former Labour minister James Purnell", who is now the BBC's head of strategy.
The source had compared politicians turning a blind eye to Clarkson's behaviour with the way people once did with Savile. Many believe that commercial concerns have allowed him to stay on Top Gear despite a series of controversies.
On March 17, the BBC’s director-general Lord Hall said that the BBC needs to determine the facts about the “fracas” before making any decisions. No official date has been fixed for the investigation to present its findings.
“The most important thing ... is to gather the facts around you and not listen to all the speculation,” he said when asked whether Clarkson would lose his job.
#BringBackClarkson, an online petition to reinstate him, has reached more than 950,000 signatures.
Top Gear is a global hit, with more than 350 million viewers in 214 countries, and earns about £50 million (Dh270m) in revenue each year for the broadcaster's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
Meanwhile, Top Gear might get a new host: a petition has been launched to bring on board the fictional character Alan Partridge, first portrayed by British actor Steve Coogan in the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour. Fan Jonathan Sandford, who signed up, wrote: "The man who made Lexi the plural of Lexus is an automotive genius."
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