After a protracted recovery Freddie Flintoff has recounted the near-fatal car crash that almost cost him his life in a new show.
Flintoff was filming Top Gear at Dunsfold airfield in Surrey when a horror crash left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs.
It would also prove to be the death knell for Top Gear, with the long-running BBC show subsequently axed and Flintoff negotiating a £9million settlement with his former employers for two years’ loss of earnings.
The BBC said this money would not be funded by the TV licence fee, as BBC Studios is a commercial arm of the broadcaster.
Now, the former cricketer is back for new show Field Of Dreams, in which he puts together a team of non-cricketers with the goal of taking them on a tour to India.
After a protracted recovery Freddie Flintoff has recounted the near-fatal car crash that almost cost him his life in a new show
Flintoff was filming Top Gear at Dunsfold airfield in Surrey when a horror crash left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs
In the trailer, shared by Flintoff with Instagram followers on Tuesday, he says of the incident: ‘…something happened which changed my life forever’.
Flintoff is also seen telling the players: ‘We’re all going to find out something about ourselves – me included.’
The group of boys are all from Flintoff’s hometown of Preston and he emotionally tells them: ‘From what I’ve done in my career. You lads are my greatest achievement’.
He says: ‘I want to take you on tour. I want to take you to India,’ before adding: ‘I want the boys to learn to be outside their comfort zone.
‘I just hope and pray that all the boys take these opportunities – and they grab it with both hands.’
The father-of-four starred in many episodes of Top Gear alongside his co-hosts Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris, but his life-changing crash turned the ‘dream job’ into a nightmare.
Here, MailOnline takes a look inside Flintoff’s challenging recovery after the horrific Top Gear crash and his next steps, as he eases back onto our screens.
The former cricket player is understood to have negotiated a £9million settlement with the corporation for two years’ loss of earnings
Flintoff and wife Rachael Wools Stars leaving the Punch Bowl Pub, Mayfair, London in 2009
Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris with a Porsche 911 GT2 RS and an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera at Billingsgate Market, London
The crash
On the 13 December 2022, Flintoff headed over to the track at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome, where the accident took place.
It has been reported that Flintoff’s car tipped over when he turned the corner at 22mph in icy conditions, insiders told the Mail on Sunday.
It has been said that the car enthusiast was not wearing a helmet when he drove the Morgan Super 3 vehicle – which can reach speeds of 130mph – over on the first bend while filming an episode.
The crash in the three-wheeler open top car left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs.
The presenter scraped his face and witnesses said that what they saw was so upsetting, some of the Top Gear team needed counselling, the MoS reported.
It was later revealed that the the £43,000 Morgan Super 3 British handmade vehicle, which is described as a ‘motorised tricycle’, did not have airbags fitted.
Flintoff’s horror crash sports car was not fitted with air bags
The TV presenter, pictured here on a motorised trike during filming for a previous series of the show, is said to be ‘determined’ to return to screens at some point
Immediately following the crash Flintoff was faced with an ‘agonising’ 45 minute wait for the air ambulance to arrive and rush him to hospital, with the BBC later giving the presenter an apology.
‘People talk about this “high speed crash” but although the consequences were horrendous, it was no such thing,’ a source told the MoS.
‘The car was actually going at 22mph when it flipped over. There is a lot of footage and it has been carefully looked at.
‘They had only just set off and were on the first corner when the car flipped and he scraped his face along the tarmac.’
The source also claimed that the BBC had spoken to Morgan, who said there was nothing wrong with the car.
Those driving the vehicle are not required to wear a helmet as the car has a halo safety device, according to the source.
Halo safety devices are a curved bar that is fitted on the car to protect the driver’s head in the event of a crash.
The aftermath
Flintoff made the decision to leave the show after the accident and several Top Gear staff members were signed off sick indefinitely as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.
An insider told The Times in March: ‘Freddie has been seriously emotionally and physically affected by the crash. He is a daredevil, that’s what he does, and he doesn’t feel like he is able to continue to play that role on the show.’
Speaking for the first time about the crash in at the start of October, Freddie described the last few months as the ‘hardest of his life’.
At the start of September, Flintoff was seen out in public for the first time since the crash, as he spent time with the England U19s team in Wales.
Flintoff practices a few cricket moves on the pitch while working with the England team during the 1st Metro Bank One Day International
The star, who stopped to speak to people, has been making a quiet re-introduction to cricket this summer, working with the England team
It was the first time that fans saw the extent of Flintoff’s facial injuries. They rushed to social media to post that they were relieved to see him out and about again
He wore an England Cricket bucket hat and matching t-shirt, as he donned a pair of sunglasses.
It was the first time that fans saw the extent of Flintoff’s facial injuries. They rushed to social media to post that they were relieved to see him out and about again.
One user took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote: ‘So relieved to see Freddie Flintoff out and about again was getting more and more worried the longer that was going.’
Another penned: ‘Shocking to see the images of big Freddie Flintoff. Wishing him the best and a speedy recovery. One of Preston’s finest sons. God bless you Fred.’
A third commented: ‘How lovely to see Freddie Flintoff back and working with the England cricket team – it’s great he’s healthy and happy enough to be doing that, and hopefully he’ll get a lot out of it. Love that man.’
After Flintoff’s horrific accident, his wife of 18 years, Rachael, was told to brace herself for the worst.
When she heard about the crash she rushed over to Surrey from the family home in Cheshire to be at his side, was told to expect the worst as medics tried to help him.
It has been reported that Racheal, 42, ‘begged’ her husband to stay off work and take time to recover from his injuries.
This perhaps influenced his decision to return to the relatively gentle world of cricket, as opposed to the increasingly daring lifestyle he lived before his crash.
After the incident his 16-year-old son Corey told MailOnline: ‘He’s OK. I’m not too sure what happened but he is lucky to be alive.
‘It was a pretty nasty crash. It is shocking. We are all shocked but just hope he’s going to be OK.’
Filming of the remainder of the 34th series abandoned with the BBC stating it would conduct a health and safety review.
What’s next for Freddie?
Flintoff is preparing to return to TV to make a second series of Field of Dreams, the 2022 BBC documentary series that saw him introducing children in his home city of Preston to cricket.
The Sun reports that Flintoff may also front another motoring show – Chasing Cars, which has been described as The Repair Shop but for petrolheads.
But the dad-of-four is said to be pacing himself ahead of a return to screens as the one-year anniversary of the crash that saw him retreat from the public eye for months looms.
A TV insider told the publication: ‘Freddie is a hugely popular TV star and any channel or streamer would be thrilled to sign up one of his shows.
‘His return to the limelight is something both telly execs and the public have been longing for and thankfully he now seems ready to return to doing what he loves.
‘He just needs to get past the one year anniversary of the crash, then he can focus on the next chapter of his career.’
MailOnline has contacted Freddie’s representatives for comment.
The end of Top Gear?
The BBC has reportedly ‘axed’ Top Gear after 46 years on the screen.
Insiders have told The Sun that nearly ten months on, production staff have now been told to look for other work, likely signalling the end of the car show.
At least one member of the Top Gear production crew is reportedly considering legal action against the BBC for loss of earnings.
In response to reports of the show having already been axed, a BBC spokesman told MailOnline: ‘A decision on the timing of future Top Gear shows will be made in due course with BBC Content.’
Flintoff was not the first person to have a bad crash on Top Gear, as former presenter Richard Hammond had a brush with death during his time on the show.
Hammond spent two weeks in a coma after crashing in a jet-powered Vampire dragster at 288mph on a Yorkshire airfield when a tyre burst
Then trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond took to the screens before Clarkson was axed in 2015 for punching a producer during a row over a hot dinner
Hammond spent two weeks in a coma after crashing in a jet-powered Vampire dragster at 288mph on a Yorkshire airfield when a tyre burst.
Then, in 2017, his electric supercar skidded off a Swiss mountain road while filming Amazon’s The Grand Tour. Richard woke up to find himself still strapped in, upside down, as the £2 million motor caught fire. The crash was so bad that Jeremy and James believed he had died.
Journalist and current Strictly Come Dancing contestant Angela Rippon was the first host of Top Gear back in 1977.
Then trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond took co-presented the car show before Clarkson was axed in 2015 for punching a producer during a row about dinner.
Hammond and May both left the show with Clarkson and they all starred on Amazon’s The Grand Tour.
