Freddie Flintoff was injured in the crash which happened at Dunsfold Aerodrome near Cranleigh in Surrey, where the former cricketer had been filming for BBC One’s Top Gear
Freddie Flintoff has told how his two-year-old son wouldn’t go near him after his horror Top Gear crash.
The former professional cricketer, 47, said he became “a snappy mess” following the smash which happened during filming for the BBC One programme at Dunsfold Aerodrome near Cranleigh, Surrey. The three-wheeled Morgan supercar overturned on the track and Freddie, who played cricket for England for 11 years, dragged his face along the ground, cutting open the side of his nose, cheek and lips, and shattering his jawbone and teeth.
But he has spoken this week of how traumatic the mental injuries were, revealing for the first time how the ordeal impacted his children. Freddie, who had PTSD following the accident, said: “(After the crash) I would get snappy and angry.
“The kids were incredible… It was the younger one, Preston, because he would have been about two, two and a half, at the time and he wouldn’t come near me to begin with because I was a mess.”
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Top Gear was shelved following the crash, and Freddie reportedly received £9m in compensation from BBC Studios, who make the show. Yet, the star has spoken since at how the experience changed his life, including how he wouldn’t leave his home – except for medical appointments – for six to eight months in the wake of it.
But the former fast bowler, a Lancashire Cricket Club legend, has now said he is on the road to recovery, to a great extent thanks to wife Rachael Wools, whom he wed in March 2005.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Freddie said: “I have flashbacks and nightmares, but I’ve probably got more of an acceptance of them now.
“I suppose that the biggest thing it did do, was brought me back to cricket. Family and friends and cricket have been things that now, have probably helped me more than anything. It’s all good now. But Rachael was strong. I suppose she had to be for both of us.”
Freddie, originally from Preston, Lancashire, has returned to TV work in recent months too. A second series of Freddie’s Field of Dreams – in which he creates a brand-new cricket team with a group of promising teens and inspires a fresh generation – aired on the BBC in 2024. The BBC has given the green light for a third series, it is understood.
And the dad was chosen to front the revival of game show Bullseye, which returned as a trial on Christmas Day last year on ITV. It became so popular ITV commissioned Bullseye for a full series, which is set to broadcast before the year is out.
Watch Freddie’s full interview on Thursday on Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube.