Paddy McGuinness hasn't spoken to pal Freddie Flintoff in 10 months after crash

02 March 2024 , 11:24

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Paddy McGuinness hasn't spoken to pal Freddie Flintoff in 10 months after crash

Paddy McGuinness has admitted that he hasn't spoken to his Top Gear co-host and friend, Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff for the past 10 months, following his horrific crash in December 2022 while filming the BBC motoring show.

Paddy presented Top Gear alongside former England star cricketer Freddie and TV presenter Chris Harris but he has admitted that with Freddie, "no one can begin to know what's going on in his head" as he continues to recover from the devastating accident. The BBC have put Top Gear "on pause" following the crash but Paddy said that he still loves the show and believes that it will make a triumphant return at some point.

Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness presented BBC's Top Gear

Speaking to The Sun, Paddy opened up about his friendship with Freddie. He said: "We were all there for him when it happened, and he got back to us all immediately after, but it’s gone quiet since then. Who knows what he must be going through. I still see his wife and we still chat, and we have the same barber, and it’s all lovely."

Paddy continued to say that he had messaged Freddie with the reason for his silence. He said: "I messaged Fred recently saying, ‘Look, I can’t begin to think what you’re going through but rather than me bombarding you with loads of messages, which can be annoying, if you can’t be a**** with that, I’m always here. I hope you’re well and please God, I’ll see you soon’. You just can’t begin to put yourself into his shoes. No one can know what’s going on in his head.”

Paddy revealed why he, Freddie and Chris were able to take on the legacy left by Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, who took Top Gear to new heights. He said that they all had similar qualities to the three that took the BBC show to "the next level".

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Freddie has returned to work with the England cricket team after Top Gear was pulled from the air (Popperfoto via Getty Images)

The comedian explained: "I did the Clarkson bit of heavy-lifting in the studio, Chris [Harris] is definitely the best driver and Fred was always the one into doing something dangerous." Paddy added that he and Freddie were not "pro drivers" but were "better than your average driver" and he shut down rumours that Freddie was a "nervous driver" by pointing out that when he starred on sports quiz show, A League Of Their Own, he was "always the one doing something a bit tasty."

"Fred and I weren’t pro drivers, but we are better than your average driver, you have to be on that show, but there were things where we’d be, ‘Oh hold on a minute, can we get a bit more training on this?’ if we were nervous.”

Paddy has since gone on to host Question of Sport, replacing the legendary Sue Barker in the role, but the BBC has since axed the show amid funding challenges. Commenting about the show's demise, Paddy said: "I was genuinely gutted though, because I loved the show so much.”

James Brinsford