The identity of The Stig has been a hotly-debated topic of late and now Top Gear’s own Jeremy Clarkson has waded into the controversy. You just know things are starting to get serious, and likely to turn completely stupid, when Clarkson gets involved.

Clarkson has now used his column in British publication The Sun to poke fun at the media frenzy that’s developed over The Stig’s identity. For the record, he claims there have been numerous people to don the white suit for photography duties, but that there is only one man who gets behind the wheel. “And some say he eats pretenders and spits out the entrails…”

Are you ready for it? According to Mr Jeremy Clarkson, The Stig is none other than BBC royal reporter Nicholas Witchell.

Now if you buy that then you obviously didn’t look at the above link. Nicholas has about as much chance of being The Stig as the TMR office cat.

Now here’s a thought: perhaps Clarkson’s entry into the latest round of Stig-mania, and fueling the discussion in the way he has, perhaps it suggests that reports that Ben Collins is The Stig might be right. It may be Clarkson’s way of trying to deflect the speculation. Are you buying it?

Whatever the case, the concept of The Stig is brilliant marketing for Top Gear. No way will Clarkson ever lift the helmet on the mysterious wheel-man. (Well, maybe on the last episode of the last-ever show… when Clarkson is 105, everyone is driving hybrids, and anyone seen driving over 30 km/h is publicly flogged… that’s when we’ll find out who The Stig is.)