Angry Freddie Flintoff says TV bosses treated him “like a piece of meat” in the lead up to his Top Gear crash. The former cricket legend, 47, insists in his new Disney+ documentary he will be doing less TV going forward.
In December 2022 his life changed overnight when he crashed a three wheeled car and suffered serious facial injuries. Speaking about television and the thirst to make everything bigger and better than before, Flintoff says: “I think that is the danger that TV falls into. And I found out the hard way eventually.
“It’s always more. Everybody wants more. Everybody wants that thing that nobody’s seen before. Everybody wants that bigger stunt. Everybody wants to dig that little bit deeper.
“Everybody wants an exclusive. Everybody wants, oh, let’s have that near miss, because then that’ll get viewers. Everything’s about viewers, always, always.
“And I should have been clever on this, because I learned this in sport as well, with all the injuries and all the injections and all the times I got sent out on a cricket field and just treated like a piece of meat. That’s TV and sport. I think that’s where it’s quite similar. You’re just a commodity. You’re just a piece of meat.”
Flintoff was filming the BBC ’s Top Gear in 2022 and was in a Morgan Super 3 car with no roof which flipped. He opted in a split second to land face first as he thought otherwise he would break his neck or be killed.
In the months that followed he rarely left the house. In his new Disney+ documentary Flintoff most of his life does seem back on track but he is yet to meet up with one of his former Top Gear co-stars despite being good pals with him on the show. He worked on the BBC series with Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness.
Flintoff tells the film: “So Chris, we saw each other. He got upset. I got a bit upset. It was really nice to see him. 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.
“It’s also something stopped, I suppose, in some ways, because of what happened to me. Like their careers have been altered as well. 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.”
Chris Harris claimed in September 2024 he expressed safety concerns to Top Gear bosses before Freddie’s crash.
In response BBC Studios, which makes Top Gear, referred to an independent investigation in 2023 which found the show had complied with industry best practice, but that there were “learnings which would need to be rigorously applied” if Top Gear returned.
The show is currently being rested after Freddie’s accident and bosses reached a financial settlement with him worth millions.
* Flintoff Premieres on Disney+ on Friday(April 25).
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