On the set of Top Gear, Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness once interconnected, but their close friendship strained after the cricket player’s tragic death.
The aftermath of Freddie Flintoff’s life-altering crash almost three years ago has impacted his life in ways few could have imagined. At the time, he was hosting Top Gear when a high-speed accident brought everything to a sudden halt.
The former cricket star suffered the near-fatal crash in December 2022. He was airlifted to hospital after his car flipped over while filming for the BBC show at the Dunsford Park Aerodrome, resulting in severe facial injuries, including deep lacerations and the loss of his front teeth, as well as broken ribs.
Since then, nothing has been quite the same for him, including his once-tight friendship with co-presenter Paddy McGuinness – who he hasn’t seen since 2022. Flintoff, 47, and McGuinness, 51, began their partnership in 2019 when they joined Top Gear alongside Chris Harris. In 2020, Flintoff and McGuinness co-hosted Total Wipeout: Freddie and Paddy Takeover, a six-episode series where they narrated classic episodes of the game show.
However, things had changed by the previous year. McGinness revealed that he hadn’t spoken to Flintoff in over ten months. Who knows what he must be going through, he said to The Sun last year? We continue to chat, we continue to have the same barber, and it’s all lovely.
If you can’t be bothered by that, I messaged Fred and said, “Look, I can’t begin to think what you’re going through, but I’m always here.” I’m hoping you’re doing well, and may God bless you.
You can’t begin to put yourself in his shoes, he said, “just can’t begin.” Nobody is aware of what is happening in his head. “Paddy was one of the first to speak out after his close friend’s accident.”
On Instagram, he shared a heartfelt message of support, writing: “Had so many well wishes and positivity for the big lad these last few years. @aflintoff11 is loved and will be up and at ‘um before you know it! The three of us are back this Sunday with more new @topgear including a trip to Italy, best family cars, and our very own postal service! We obviously filmed this ep earlier in the year.”
Now speaking out about their relationship in a new Disney+ documentary, Flintoff emotionally opened up about how staying in touch with Paddy and Chris has become too emotionally draining for him to handle following his crash. “We’ve been in contact…but I feel bad I haven’t been more in contact with Chris and Paddy”. He added: “Part of it is, for myself a little bit, you know what I mean? I hate the word ‘triggering’, but I’m worried about that.”
He also revealed how deeply resentful he is of how those closest to him have their careers affected by his accident. According to Freddie, “The show] is something that, in some ways, stopped because of what happened to me.” I feel sorry for them because their careers have also been altered. Additionally, it seems like what transpired gets pushed up too far on my own, without adding anything to that.
But there is no bad blood between the pair, with Paddy now declaring his love for his former co-star. “I love Fred. He’s a good lad,” he said. “The mad thing about me getting on with him so well is that I know absolutely zero about cricket. I’ve never watched it, never been into it and never played it. I knew of Freddie and Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan…the famous names.”
He remarked that he occasionally reflected on his thoughts, “Me, Fred and Chris Harris], and every time we worked together, we just laughed. It was a really lovely experience.
In the new bombshell documentary, Freddie bravely admitted that he should have “died” “after his crash.” I didn’t believe I had it in me after the accident. He solemnly shared: “A portion of me wishes I’d been killed, and another portion thinks I wish I’d died.” I wouldn’t mistake the two things because I didn’t want to commit suicide. But I was considering how much simpler this would have been. The BBC stopped producing the 34th series of Top Gear after “the life-shattering incident of Freddie’s” and later announced that the show would be “rested for the foreseeable future.”
According to reports, Flintoff felt unable to carry on his role and was “severely emotionally and physically affected” by the collision. He has since returned to television with new projects, including hosting a special edition of Bullseye and leading the Disney+ documentary that details his recovery journey. He was given a $ 9 million settlement from the BBC.
He has slowly begun to move forward, as he returned to the screens. Opening up about his role on the beloved game show reboot, he previously said: “I love the darts and Bullseye was one of my favourite shows as a kid. I can’t quite believe I’ll get to host this Christmas special. Then, echoing one of Jim’s famous catchphrases, he added: ‘You can’t beat a bit of Bully!'”
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Source: Mirror
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