PADDY McGuinness says he hopes to do the town proud in his new role hosting Top Gear.

The Bolton comedian will host the show alongside Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff it has been revealed.

The Take Me Out host and the former cricketer are set to take over from Matt LeBlanc when he steps down from presenting duties at the end of the next series.

Paddy and Freddie will join motoring journalist and racing driver Chris Harris in the main presenting line-up.

They will begin filming for the show’s 27th series in early 2019, and it is expected to debut later in the year.

Paddy described the Top Gear role as a “real honour” and said he was ‘thrilled’ to have been given the opportunity.

Speaking exclusively to The Bolton News, he said: “For a lad from Bolton who grew up watching Top Gear, in a two up two down Daubhill terrace, and to be now hosting the world’s biggest car show is a real dream come true. Hopefully I’ll do the town proud.”

Following Monday’s announcement, McGuinness posted a series of pictures with his new co-hosts, including one which simply read ‘Morning! #topgear’.

The 45-year-old shot to fame alongside fellow Bolton comedian Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere.

He then went on to host a number of programmes before heading up ITV’s prime-time dating show Take Me Out in 2010, turning him into a Saturday night TV favourite. He is particularly well-known for a number of his catchphrases, including the popular “no likey, no lighty.”

In 2017, McGuinness joined forces with Celebrity Juice presenter Leigh Francis, best known as Keith Lemon, for their ITV series The Keith And Paddy Picture Show, a comedy parody which sees them recreate their favourite films.

The former Mount St Joseph School pupil married his wife Christine in 2011, and they have three children - five-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, and daughter Felicity, who was born in 2016.