It’s a huge emotional roller coaster ride watching Freddie Flintoff’s new Disney+ documentary, and it will bring a tear to many people’s eyes.
But away from the gruesome hospital pictures and shocking details of his accident, and even the physical and mental pain he suffers from, the thing I found most surprising was the admission that Freddie had not seen Top Gear co-host Paddy McGuinness since his crash at the end of 2022. My memories of the pair together on Top Gear are still quite vivid, and I was lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time with them along with Chris Harris when they promoted the series they were on from 2019 until 2022.
First and foremost they always seem to have so much fun in each other’s company and whilst I appreciate the reasons why Freddie hasn’t seen Paddy, it is such a contrast to what went before.
One time during COVID, we spoke on a zoom chat, and I was quick to point out cheekily that Freddie had beaten Paddy in a number of challenges, and that I thought Freddie was, in fact, better on Top Gear than him. Unsurprisingly, Freddie and Chris Harris both found this amusing, much more so than Paddy. And there was some joking and banter back and forth, and we ended on good terms.
There was more laughter the next time we met over some other new challenge or some mistake Paddy or Freddie had made. Freddie would always eat the hottesh chilli or push himself to the limits to try to beat Paddy, but nothing was too serious. It was a job they both loved and they were like big kids living out their dreams in all these cars in places around the world they had never seen.
Plus my overall impression was that Freddie and Paddy always got on really well. Promotion days are the worst part of their job and some celebs just want to get to the end of them. But the trio always seemed to enjoy each other’s company and so it never seemed like a chore to them. I always looked forward to chatting to them, knowing they might mock me a bit in some way if I took them to task over something in the series, but it would all be light hearted and I would leave the room with a grin on my face.
This makes it all the more remarkable that Freddie has not seen Paddy for over two years now, having flown around the world with him and spent so much time with him for several years.
Freddie says in the documentary he has seen Chris Harris once and they both cried.
He then adds: “I feel bad I haven’t been in more contact with him and Paddy. Part of it is for myself a little bit. I hate the word triggering, but I’m worried about that.”
He goes on to say the accident “altered” their careers as well as his own.
“So I feel not guilty, but I feel bad for him. And also, what happened gets dragged up. I have enough in me head without adding to that.”
I totally understand Freddie’s reasoning and he must do what is right for himself first and foremost.
But I know Paddy reasonably well, having spoke to him a lot in his career, and I can safely say I don’t think Paddy would care at all about what has happened in terms of his own career.
He would care about his old mucker Freddie feeling OK, and he could also point to the fact he is still on TV loads and also has his own Radio 2 show, so he is not exactly short of a few quid and there is nothing to worry about on that front.
Chris Harris also will be much more concerned about Freddie’s health and wellbeing than his own TV career.
The film ends with Freddie in upbeat mood and cricket coaching seems to have helped him which is wonderful to see. There’s a smile back on his face.
So I do hope at some point, and when the time is right, Freddie will decide to meet Paddy, or maybe they’ll bump into each other at some event. Once they do that, Freddie will know for certain that there are no bad feelings from Paddy and he is not upset. He will know that as soon as he is face to face with him. I hope time can heal their friendship and one day I’ll get to have a laugh with them again.
* Flintoff Premieres on Disney+ on Friday(April 25).
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