Top Gear will not return ‘for foreseeable future’ after Freddie Flintoff crash
Top Gear will be rested for the “foreseeable future”, the BBC has announced, following a crash during filming last year in which host Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was seriously injured[1]. Production of the show has been halted since former England cricket captain Flintoff, 45, was taken to hospital in December 2022 after he was injured in an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. Following the crash, the BBC announced that it would pause production on the show, co-presented by Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness and journalist Chris Harris, as it was felt it would be “inappropriate”, adding there would be a health and safety review.
In a statement on Tuesday, the BBC said: “Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future. “The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them. “We will have more to say in the near future on this.
We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do. “All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.” This comes after Flintoff recently reached a settlement with the BBC[2], reportedly worth GBP9m.
The payout will not be funded by the TV licence fee, as BBC Studios is a commercial arm of the broadcaster. In September, father-of-four Flintoff was photographed for the first time in public[3] since the crash and had visible facial injuries as he joined up with the England cricket squad for their one-day international series against New Zealand. Flintoff had co-hosted the hugely popular BBC show Top Gear[4] alongside Paddy McGuinness[5] and Chris Harris since 2019 and had assumed the role of daredevil, taking on some of the higher-risk stunts and challenges.
He has previously said “That’s just the nature of the stuff I do on the show now, and I’ve learnt to just get on with it and get stuck in, there’s no time for anything else.”
Former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond filming at Castle Combe Circuit during Series 22 – Episode 08 (Photo: BBC Studios)
When the England cricket star was involved in a major crash on the test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, he was reported to have been driving a Morgan Super 3 – an open-top vehicle described as a “motorised tricycle” – at 130mph when it flipped and skid across the track during filming. The 45-year-old, who was not believed to be wearing a helmet, was airlifted to hospital and suffered facial injuries and broken ribs as a result of the incident. Following the crash, his 16-year-old son Corey told MailOnline[6] that his father was OK but was “lucky to be alive.”
“It was a pretty nasty crash”, he said. “We are all shocked but just hope he’s going to be OK.” It is not the first time the father-of-four has been involved in incidents on the show. He crashed into a market stall in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in February 2019 and was involved in a collision during a drag race while he was filming at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire the same year.
In August, i was exclusively told that the hit BBC show would remain off air, until an independent health and safety inquiry into the show concludes.[7] BBC Studios said[8] the external investigation report “was concluded in March of this year and is not being published, which we have always made clear”. Top Gear first premiered on 20 October 2002 and quickly rose to dam for it’s acclaim for its presentation style and laddish humour from hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
The line-up remained unchanged as one of the BBC’s most popular TV programmes, until a bust-up between Clarkson and a producer in 2015 led to his dismissal, prompting Hammond and May to follow suit. The trio went on to form their own show The Grand Tour, and the BBC found new hosts which included radio host Chris Evans and former Friends star Matt Le Blanc. After negative feedback on this series, Evans resigned from the programme, with LeBlanc joined by Chris Harris and Rory Reid as the main hosts for the following three series.
From the twenty-seventh series onwards in 2019, the presenting line-up was changed following the departure of LeBlanc and Reid, with Harris joined by Flintoff and McGuiness as the main presenters.
References
- ^ host Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was seriously injured (inews.co.uk)
- ^ BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ photographed for the first time in public (inews.co.uk)
- ^ Top Gear (inews.co.uk)
- ^ Paddy McGuinness (inews.co.uk)
- ^ MailOnline (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ the hit BBC show would remain off air, until an independent health and safety inquiry into the show concludes. (inews.co.uk)
- ^ BBC Studios said (www.bbc.co.uk)