Top Gear star Paddy McGuinness responds to Freddie Flintoff rift rumours
2025-04-26T07:08:16Z
Cricket player says he has avoided his co-hosts as he finds it ‘triggering’
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Paddy McGuinness has opened up about his relationship with former Top Gear co-host Freddie Flintoff after reports claimed the pair had not spoken since the cricketer’s horror crash.
In December 2022, Flintoff was involved in a near-fatal incident that left him with significant facial injuries and broken ribs while filming the now-suspended BBC motoring show.
Britain’s most renowned cricketer admitted he initially thought he “was dead” after a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car flipped over on the Top Gear track at Surrey’s Dunsfold Park Aerodrome – and, in a new Disney+ documentary, he made the shock claim that “it would have been so much easier” if he had died.
Earlier this week, reports suggested that McGuinness had been left harbouring resentment after he and co-presenter Chris Harris were left without work following the show’s axing, according to the Daily Mail. The cricket player received a £9m payout following the crash, while his co-presenters appear not to have been compensated for any loss in earnings.
In the documentary, Flintoff did not address these claims directly, but revealed he had avoided speaking to both McGuinness and Harris as he was concerned he would find their association with Top Gear “triggering”.
McGuinness has now broken his silence on the subject of Flintoff.
“I love Fred. He’s a good lad,” the Take Me Out host told The Mirror. “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.
“Me, Fred and Chris [Harris] everyday we worked together we just laughed. It was such a lovely experience. It was one of those jobs for me, as someone who wasn’t well travelled to visit the places we did in Top Gear and go off the beaten track.
open image in gallery Pair appear to have grown distant since the cricket player’s ‘Top Gear’ crash ( Getty )
“It was only when I reflect on the things we did that I think what a privilege it is to have done that job. Freddie and I still message. But everyone’s got busy lives. It’s like with every show I do, you work with people and you keep in touch but no one lives near everyone. It’s like lightning in a bottle getting everyone together.”
Meanwhile, Flintoff reflected in the new Disney+ documentary: “We’ve been in contact. When I saw Chris we hugged each other, he got upset and I got a little bit upset.
“I feel bad I haven’t been more in contact with him and Paddy. I think there were some comments that I’ve not spoken with Paddy for a while and part of it is for myself a little bit.
open image in gallery The cricketer received £9m in compensation as a result of his injuries and production on ‘Top Gear’ was suspended indefinitely ( Disney )
“I hate the word triggering… but I’m worried about that. It’s also something that has stopped because of what’s happened to me. Their careers have been halted as well.
“So I feel bad for them and also it’s like what happened gets dragged up enough in my own head without adding to that.”
Flintoff is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland now.
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