Freddie Flintoff has opened up on accepting his scars following the horrific Prime Gear crash that just about killed him.
The previous England cricket star turned tv presenter was left with horrific accidents after the automobile he was testing on the BBC motoring present flipped over on the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey over two years in the past.
Flintoff was driving a Morgan Tremendous 3 three-wheeled sports activities automobile when it overturned and crashed off of the Prime Gear check observe on December 13 2022 throughout filming.
The automobile is an open-topped motor able to hitting 130mph – and the cricketer wasn’t carrying a helmet when the automobile flipped over.
Regardless of the automobile being geared up with roll bars designed to guard occupants within the occasion of turning over, Flintoff suffered extreme facial accidents and damaged ribs.
Talking on The Jonathan Ross Present, Flintoff admitted he didn’t go away the home for round six to seven months as he tried to manage mentally together with his scars following the accident.
Freddie Flintoff has opened up on accepting his scars following the horrific Prime Gear crash that just about killed him
Flintoff is the topic of a brand new Disney+ documentary which contains a shock take a look at his crash
Flintoff revealed the psychological toll of the accidents sustained when filming BBC motoring present Prime Gear meant he didn’t go away the home for between six to eight months (pictured 2022)
‘No secret that I had a automobile accident filming Prime Gear,’ Flintoff mentioned. ‘Afterwards, clearly there’s the bodily scars that I’ve received. However then the psychological facet of it.
‘I didn’t go away the home for in all probability six or eight months. The one instances I used to be leaving the home was for medical appointments and surgical procedures.
‘A mate of mine, Rob Key, who is definitely my boss, recognized him for 30 years, he began inviting me to return and watch the cricket, check matches, however sit in a again room not within the crowd. I used to be carrying a full face masks for months.
‘I began getting again into it and began to seek out my toes just a little bit. Ever since I can bear in mind, from being a child, cricket was an enormous a part of my life.’
Flintoff, the person synonymous with England’s fabled 2005 Ashes success, had reemerged into the general public eye 9 months after the accident.
He started work as an unpaid mentor to the England’s bowlers in September 2023.
Flintoff then joined up with England’s white-ball groups as an assistant coach within the away collection in West Indies and the Twenty20 World Cup earlier than taking his first head coach function with Northern Superchargers.
He was then appointed as head coach of the England Lions, which seeks to develop gamers for the senior England staff.
Flintoff, 47, exhibits off his absolutely healed face forward of a brand new Disney + documentary
The crash left him with extreme facial accidents and several other damaged ribs (proper, in September 2023)
Flintoff reemerged in when he started working with England’s quick bowlers in September 2023
Talking on the The Jonathan Ross Present, Flintoff revealed how cricket and banter from his pals helped him to return to regular and transfer on from the crash
Flintoff revealed he has now develop into extra accepting of his scars following the crash, whereas noting how banter from his pals had helped him to maneuver on from the accident.
‘I’d not left the home for some time, gone all the way down to London to go to the workplace,’ Flintoff mentioned.
‘Certainly one of my mates was there, I had a bucket hat, glasses and a masks and he mentioned, “F*** me, it’s the invisible man.”
‘It’s all the time higher when that begins occurring. Again to regular.
‘I’m extra accepting of it now, it’s what it’s and transfer on.’
Flintoff was talking forward of the launch of his Disney+ documentary on April 25.
A trailer has given viewers a glimpse of the horrifying scene following the crash in 2022.
Flintoff says within the trailer that he wished to movie the documentary in an effort to give his facet of the story after spending months out of the general public eye, prompting issues about his welfare.
Filming on Prime Gear was suspended and the way forward for the present – which he co-hosted alongside comic Paddy McGuinness (centre) and Chris Harris (proper)
‘I’ve lived underneath radar for seven months,’ Freddie says within the video. ‘One of many actual frustrations was the hypothesis, that is why I am doing this now. What truly occurred.’
Following the terrifying ordeal, Flintoff stop Prime Gear and reportedly obtained a £9million settlement from the BBC of the crash, paid for by the broadcaster’s industrial arm.
Alongside motoring journalist Chris Harris and comic Paddy McGuinness, Flintoff had fronted Prime Gear since 2019, guiding the present again to success following a interval of turmoil after its star presenters had been sacked and stop in 2015.
The trio had been praised for bettering the standard of the present after a tumultuous interval that got here with the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, sacked for punching a producer, and his co-stars James Could and Richard Hammond.
Nonetheless, co-star Chris Harris had beforehand raised issues over the protection of a few of the stunts on the present, which had regularly moved away from offering shopper recommendation on vehicles in favour of motoring-based leisure.
Chatting with podcaster Joe Rogan, Harris mentioned he had warned the BBC three months earlier than the accident that there could possibly be a ‘severe damage’ or ‘fatality’.
He mentioned: ‘What was by no means spoken about was that three months earlier than the accident, I might gone to the BBC and mentioned, ‘Until you alter one thing, somebody’s going to die on this present’.
‘So I went to them, I went to the BBC and I informed them of my issues from what I might seen – as probably the most skilled driver on the present by a mile.’
Flintoff was synonymous with England’s 2005 Ashes success and moved into tv following his retirement from cricket
Flintoff obtained a settlement of £9million from the BBC following his Prime Gear crash
A never-seen-before take a look at Flintoff’s (pictured) horror Prime Gear crash has been launched
Whereas McGuinness and Flintoff had been ‘sensible entertainers’, he mentioned they ‘did not have the expertise I had in vehicles’.
Recalling the horrifying moments after the crash, Harris mentioned: ‘There have been two people who had pushed a Morgan three-wheeler earlier than current that day – me and another person, a professional driver.
‘And we had been sitting inside at the moment. Nobody had requested us something concerning the automobile. They’d simply gone on and shot it with out us.’
Harris arrived on the scene shortly after the crash. He informed Rogan: ‘I bear in mind the radio message that I heard.
‘I heard somebody say this has been an actual accident right here. The automobile’s the other way up. So I ran to the window, appeared out and he wasn’t transferring.
‘He is a bodily specimen, Fred, he is a giant man – six foot 5, six foot six, sturdy. And if he wasn’t so sturdy, he would not have survived.
‘He is an awesome advert for bodily power and conditioning, as a result of if he hadn’t been that sturdy, he’d have simply snapped his neck, he’d be useless.’
Flintoff, McGuinness and Harris had taken half in a collection high-octane stunts throughout their three-year stint within the present.
After the incident, Freddie stored out of the general public eye for months as he recovered however has regularly returned to screens
The brand new 90-minute documentary shall be launched on April 25 and options Flintoff in addition to others near him as they talk about his sporting profession and life
His spouse Rachael (pictured) and shut pals together with Michael Vaughan, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall, all seem within the movie
Among the many stunts he carried out was a automobile bungee soar in a Rover 100, which was launched from the highest of a 500ft dam in Switzerland.
5 years in the past, Flintoff rode a 124mph trike that shot off into grassland as he filmed a drag race in opposition to a automobile.
He escaped with out damage, telling MailOnline on the time: ‘I’m going to nice lengths to verify I do effectively in Prime Gear drag races, however on this event I went a number of lengths too far.’
A Prime Gear spokesperson mentioned on the time: ‘The well being and security of our presenters and crew on Prime Gear is paramount.
‘He suffered no accidents because of his spontaneous detour, as followers will see for themselves after we present the sequence in full.’
Flintoff’s 2022 crash within the Morgan proved an excessive amount of, and filming on Prime Gear was suspended pending an investigation after the automobile overturned at 22mph. Flintoff had reportedly been apprehensive about filming.
In March 2023, the company apologised to Flintoff for his accidents after a report was compiled by well being and security specialists each inside and outdoors of the BBC. It paid compensation in October. The report was not printed publicly.
It then put Prime Gear on ice in November 2023 – seemingly indefinitely – because of the ‘distinctive circumstances’ of the crash.
The broadcaster mentioned then that there could be ‘extra to say within the close to future’ – however no additional announcement on Prime Gear has ever come.
His co-stars filmed a collection, Paddy and Chris: Highway Tripping, that noticed them drive throughout Sweden, Greece and Switzerland.
However the present was of a really completely different calibre to Prime Gear, as they explored how one can age gracefully as males approaching 50.
Flintoff’s new 90-minute documentary, launched on April 25, will take a look at his wider sporting profession as one in all England’s best all-round cricketers in addition to his second life as a TV star.
His spouse Rachael seems within the movie alongside a cohort of shut pals together with Michael Vaughan, James Corden, and Jack Whitehall.
It has been directed by the BAFTA and Emmy-nominated filmmaker John Dower, and produced by the staff behind the BBC collection Freddie Flintoff’s Subject of Desires.
It noticed noticed him assemble a gaggle of youngsters from his hometown of Preston right into a promising cricket staff.
Flintoff is ready to doc the sportsman’s compelling life story from profitable two Ashes collection for England, changing into captain of the staff and to changing into a British TV icon.
‘It is a story of resilience via profession highs, private challenges, and the pressures of residing underneath the general public gaze,’ Disney mentioned.
Flintoff’s sons Corey and Rocky look set to observe of their dad’s footsteps. Quick-bowling all-rounder Corey, 19, has signed a two-year rookie cope with Kent whereas Rocky, 17, performs for Lancashire after signing a deal final June.
Final 12 months, it was additionally revealed Freddie could be the face behind ITV’s Bullseye reboot.
The ITV gameshow ran from 1981 to 1995 and was hosted by the late comic Jim Bowen. It was revived as soon as earlier than in 2006 with Dave Spikey because the host.
