Freddie Flintoff shares heartbreaking admission over horror BBC Top Gear crash: ‘Didn’t know if I could carry on’
Television presenter Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff has disclosed that he questioned whether he possessed the strength to continue following his serious accident whilst filming Top Gear in 2022.
The 47-year-old former England cricket captain made the emotional admission during the upcoming third series of his BBC programme Field of Dreams: Ultimate Test.
Speaking candidly to teenage participants in Blackpool, Mr Flintoff revealed: “I didn’t know if I had it in me to carry on, not that I wanted to die or anything like that, I just didn’t know if I had it in me, and that took a while.”
The revelation emerges as the presenter prepares to return to television screens next month, having largely remained out of public view since the incident.
The accident occurred at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey during December 2022, leaving Mr Flintoff with severe facial and rib injuries that required hospitalisation.
He underwent extensive surgery lasting five hours to address tissue damage, dental injuries including broken and lost teeth, and fractures to his upper jaw bone.
During filming for the new series, a teenage cricket hopeful in Blackpool posed a direct question about the difficulty of leaving his house following the accident.
This prompted Mr Flintoff’s frank discussion about his recovery journey.
“It was, what – 18 months ago? And you know, I’ve suffered with things like depression in the past before, but this time was different,” Mr Flintoff explained to the young participants.
The presenter spoke about his lengthy journey towards self-acceptance and how the accident disrupted that progress.
“The one thing you just want to be is happy in yourself, and try and be accepting of yourself of what you are,” he told the teenagers.
“It took me a long time to be like that, and then the crash put me back again, and now it’s like finding myself or finding the person I want to be.”
During the episode, Mr Flintoff mentioned to another participant that he had returned to cricket following the accident because it was “a bit safer” than his previous television work.
The second series of Field of Dreams had previously shown Mr Flintoff discussing the incident publicly for the first time, where he disclosed spending seven months largely confined to his home, venturing out solely for medical appointments.
Earlier this year, a Disney+ documentary revealed the full extent of Mr Flintoff’s psychological struggle.
In the programme, he shared his admission that “part of me wishes I’d been killed” during his recovery period.
He clarified these thoughts weren’t suicidal but reflected the overwhelming difficulty of his situation.
“I was not wishing, I was just thinking, ‘this would have been so much easier’,” he explained in the documentary, adding that he now focuses on positive aspects like his children’s affection.
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The BBC subsequently suspended Top Gear indefinitely in 2023 and agreed a financial settlement with Mr Flintoff reportedly valued at approximately £9 million.
Field of Dreams: Ultimate Test, featuring Mr Flintoff establishing cricket teams with inexperienced teenagers in Blackpool and Liverpool, begins broadcasting on BBC One and iPlayer from September 7.