Freddie Flintoff has opened up on accepting his scars following the horrific Top Gear crash that almost killed him.
The former England cricket star turned television presenter was left with horrific injuries after the car he was testing on the BBC motoring show flipped over at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey over two years ago.
Flintoff was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned and crashed off of the Top Gear test track on December 13 2022 during filming.
The car is an open-topped motor capable of hitting 130mph – and the cricketer wasn’t wearing a helmet when the car flipped over.
Despite the car being equipped with roll bars designed to protect occupants in the event of turning over, Flintoff suffered severe facial injuries and broken ribs.
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Flintoff admitted he did not leave the house for around six to seven months as he attempted to cope mentally with his scars following the accident.
Freddie Flintoff has opened up on accepting his scars following the horrific Top Gear crash that almost killed him
Flintoff is the subject of a new Disney+ documentary which features a shock look at his crash
Flintoff revealed the mental toll of the injuries sustained when filming BBC motoring show Top Gear meant he did not leave the house for between six to eight months (pictured 2022)
‘No secret that I had a car accident filming Top Gear,’ Flintoff said. ‘Afterwards, obviously there’s the physical scars that I’ve got. But then the mental side of it.
‘I didn’t leave the house for probably six or eight months. The only times I was leaving the house was for medical appointments and surgeries.
‘A mate of mine, Rob Key, who is actually my boss, known him for 30 years, he started inviting me to come and watch the cricket, test matches, but sit in a back room not in the crowd. I was wearing a full face mask for months.
‘I started getting back into it and started to find my feet a little bit. Ever since I can remember, from being a kid, cricket was a massive part of my life.’
Flintoff, the man synonymous with England’s fabled 2005 Ashes success, had reemerged into the public eye nine months after the accident.
He began work as an unpaid mentor to the England’s bowlers in September 2023.
Flintoff then joined up with England’s white-ball teams as an assistant coach in the away series in West Indies and the Twenty20 World Cup before taking his first head coach role with Northern Superchargers.
He was then appointed as head coach of the England Lions, which seeks to develop players for the senior England team.
Flintoff, 47, shows off his fully healed face ahead of a new Disney + documentary
The crash left him with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs (right, in September 2023)
Flintoff reemerged in when he began working with England’s fast bowlers in September 2023
Speaking on the The Jonathan Ross Show, Flintoff revealed how cricket and banter from his friends helped him to return to normal and move on from the crash
Flintoff revealed he has now become more accepting of his scars following the crash, while noting how banter from his friends had helped him to move on from the accident.
‘I’d not left the house for a while, gone down to London to go to the office,’ Flintoff said.
‘One of my mates was there, I had a bucket hat, glasses and a mask and he said, “F*** me, it’s the invisible man.”
‘It’s always better when that starts happening. Back to normal.
‘I’m more accepting of it now, it is what it is and move on.’
Flintoff was speaking ahead of the launch of his Disney+ documentary on April 25.
A trailer has given viewers a glimpse of the horrifying scene following the crash in 2022.
Flintoff says in the trailer that he wanted to film the documentary in order to give his side of the story after spending months out of the public eye, prompting concerns about his welfare.
Filming on Top Gear was suspended and the future of the show – which he co-hosted alongside comedian Paddy McGuinness (centre) and Chris Harris (right)
‘I’ve lived under radar for seven months,’ Freddie says in the video. ‘One of the real frustrations was the speculation, that’s why I’m doing this now. What actually happened.’
Following the terrifying ordeal, Flintoff quit Top Gear and reportedly received a £9million settlement from the BBC of the crash, paid for by the broadcaster’s commercial arm.
Alongside motoring journalist Chris Harris and comedian Paddy McGuinness, Flintoff had fronted Top Gear since 2019, guiding the show back to success following a period of turmoil after its star presenters were sacked and quit in 2015.
The trio had been praised for improving the quality of the show after a tumultuous period that came with the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, sacked for punching a producer, and his co-stars James May and Richard Hammond.
However, co-star Chris Harris had previously raised concerns over the safety of some of the stunts on the show, which had gradually moved away from providing consumer advice on cars in favour of motoring-based entertainment.
Speaking to podcaster Joe Rogan, Harris said he had warned the BBC three months before the accident that there could be a ‘serious injury’ or ‘fatality’.
He said: ‘What was never spoken about was that three months before the accident, I’d gone to the BBC and said, ‘Unless you change something, someone’s going to die on this show’.
‘So I went to them, I went to the BBC and I told them of my concerns from what I’d seen – as the most experienced driver on the show by a mile.’
Flintoff was synonymous with England’s 2005 Ashes success and moved into television following his retirement from cricket
Flintoff received a settlement of £9million from the BBC following his Top Gear crash
A never-seen-before look at Flintoff’s (pictured) horror Top Gear crash has been released
While McGuinness and Flintoff were ‘brilliant entertainers’, he said they ‘didn’t have the experience I had in cars’.
Recalling the horrifying moments after the crash, Harris said: ‘There were two people that had driven a Morgan three-wheeler before present that day – me and someone else, a pro driver.
‘And we were sitting inside at that time. No one had asked us anything about the car. They’d just gone on and shot it without us.’
Harris arrived on the scene shortly after the crash. He told Rogan: ‘I remember the radio message that I heard.
‘I heard someone say this has been a real accident here. The car’s upside down. So I ran to the window, looked out and he wasn’t moving.
‘He’s a physical specimen, Fred, he’s a big guy – six foot five, six foot six, strong. And if he wasn’t so strong, he wouldn’t have survived.
‘He’s a great advert for physical strength and conditioning, because if he hadn’t been that strong, he’d have just snapped his neck, he’d be dead.’
Flintoff, McGuinness and Harris had taken part in a series high-octane stunts during their three-year stint in the show.
After the incident, Freddie kept out of the public eye for months as he recovered but has gradually returned to screens
The new 90-minute documentary will be released on April 25 and features Flintoff as well as others close to him as they discuss his sporting career and life
His wife Rachael (pictured) and close friends including Michael Vaughan, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall, all appear in the film
Among the stunts he performed was a car bungee jump in a Rover 100, which was launched from the top of a 500ft dam in Switzerland.
Five years ago, Flintoff rode a 124mph trike that shot off into grassland as he filmed a drag race against a car.
He escaped without injury, telling MailOnline at the time: ‘I go to great lengths to make sure I do well in Top Gear drag races, but on this occasion I went a few lengths too far.’
A Top Gear spokesperson said at the time: ‘The health and safety of our presenters and crew on Top Gear is paramount.
‘He suffered no injuries as a result of his spontaneous detour, as fans will see for themselves when we show the sequence in full.’
Flintoff’s 2022 crash in the Morgan proved too much, and filming on Top Gear was suspended pending an investigation after the car overturned at 22mph. Flintoff had reportedly been apprehensive about filming.
In March 2023, the corporation apologised to Flintoff for his injuries after a report was compiled by health and safety experts both inside and outside of the BBC. It paid compensation in October. The report was not published publicly.
It then put Top Gear on ice in November 2023 – seemingly indefinitely – due to the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the crash.
The broadcaster said then that there would be ‘more to say in the near future’ – but no further announcement on Top Gear has ever come.
His co-stars filmed a series, Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping, that saw them drive across Sweden, Greece and Switzerland.
But the show was of a very different calibre to Top Gear, as they explored how to age gracefully as men approaching 50.
Flintoff’s new 90-minute documentary, released on April 25, will look at his wider sporting career as one of England’s greatest all-round cricketers as well as his second life as a TV star.
His wife Rachael appears in the film alongside a cohort of close friends including Michael Vaughan, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall.
It has been directed by the BAFTA and Emmy-nominated filmmaker John Dower, and produced by the team behind the BBC series Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams.
It saw saw him assemble a group of teenagers from his hometown of Preston into a promising cricket team.
Flintoff is set to document the sportsman’s compelling life story from winning two Ashes series for England, becoming captain of the team and to becoming a British TV icon.
‘This is a story of resilience through career highs, personal challenges, and the pressures of living under the public gaze,’ Disney said.
Flintoff’s sons Corey and Rocky look set to follow in their dad’s footsteps. Fast-bowling all-rounder Corey, 19, has signed a two-year rookie deal with Kent while Rocky, 17, plays for Lancashire after signing a deal last June.
Last year, it was also revealed Freddie would be the face behind ITV’s Bullseye reboot.
The ITV gameshow ran from 1981 to 1995 and was hosted by the late comedian Jim Bowen. It was revived once before in 2006 with Dave Spikey as the host.