Flintoff ‘didn’t leave house for six months’ after crash
Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff has said he did not leave the house for six months after his Top Gear crash, which left him with both physical and mental scars.
The cricketer-turned-TV presenter sustained serious facial and rib injuries in a crash while filming the BBC motoring programme in 2022.
Speaking about the incident on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show, Flintoff said he had struggled with “crippling anxiety” in the wake of the crash and has suffered from flashbacks and nightmares.
The interview, to be broadcast on Saturday, comes ahead of a Disney+ documentary which promises an “intimate and unprecedented look” at Flintoff’s sporting career and his return to the public eye after the crash.
“Afterwards, obviously there’s the physical scars that I’ve got. But then the mental side of it,” he told Jonathan Ross.
“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,” he said.
The former England all-rounder also revealed he had to have “about five or six goes at leaving the room” and “have a chat with myself in the mirror” to help overcome his anxiety before returning to the world of cricket as a coach.
“I’d not shown myself without a face mask to anyone. It was like starting again.”
In a trailer released on Thursday for the 90-minute Disney+ documentary, Flintoff describes his “vivid” memories of the crash and says he can remember “everything about it”.
A still image from shortly after the incident is shown, depicting staff and crew attending a crashed vehicle at Top Gear’s test track at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey.
Flintoff said filming the upcoming documentary was “quite strange” at first.
“Since the accident, had the flashbacks, the nightmares and things… you’re talking about it, you’re talking about it quite a lot,” he said.
“I enjoy watching the cricket bits, wish there was more of them in it. The hardest part is seeing people talk about you.”
He added: “I retired so long ago, it almost seems like a different life. Like watching from the outside.”
Flintoff’s family, Gavin & Stacey creator James Corden, and comedian Jack Whitehall also appear in the trailer for the documentary, which is streaming from 25 April.
One of England’s most successful cricketers, Flintoff said he is “loving” his return to the sport coaching England Lions – the development squad underneath England Men’s cricket team.
“I think, with everything that’s happened over the past few years, that’s the one place I feel most comfortable,” he told Jonathan Ross.
“That time when I probably needed it most, cricket embraced me again,” he said.
They 47-year-old returned to television last year with a second series of his BBC programme Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, which saw him take a team of young cricketers from his hometown of Preston on a tour of India a year after the Top Gear crash.
The acclaimed series is up for a Bafta Television Award in the factual series category next month.
In 2023, the BBC “rested” Top Gear for the foreseeable future. A financial settlement was also reached with Flintoff.
The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday at 22:20 BST on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.
