Paddy McGuinness’ delight as Freddie Flintoff returns to TV after Top Gear crash

Watch: Paddy McGuinness speaks about ‘close’ friend Freddie Flintoff after Top Gear crash

What did you miss?

Paddy McGuinness has told how happy he is to see Top Gear pal Freddie Flintoff return to TV after his terrifying car accident.

Cricket star Flintoff suffered serious facial injuries and broken ribs in 2022 when the car he was driving on the motoring show’s Surrey test track flipped over. He has been recovering out of the spotlight since then but has now made his TV comeback in Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams on Tour.

McGuinness, Flintoff’s co-presenter on Top Gear, was asked about it on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and shared his delight at seeing the star back on screen.

What, how and why?

The daytime show’s Kate Garraway brought up Flintoff, whose new series sees him taking his cricket team on tour to India. “Just to say, obviously you must be delighted to see Freddie back?” she asked McGuinness.

“Oh yeah, yeah,” he replied. “Bless him.

“When we did Top Gear, we are that close. You’re together all the time, you know, going around the world and everything else. You have a real bond and seeing him do stuff like that again, you are like, glad he’s getting sort of back into it.”

Read more: Paddy McGuinness

Freddie Flintoff’s accident

Flintoff had the accident in December 2022 when he was driving a three-wheeled Morgan Super 3 at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome. The car flipped and slid along the track and Flintoff had to be airlifted to hospital.

Afterwards he was not seen in public for months, and in his new show he has been candid about the emotional impact of the crash, explaining that he suffered nightmares and flashbacks and struggled to go out much. “It’s been a lot harder than I thought,” he said.

“As much as I’ve wanted to go out and do things, I’ve just not been able to. I was full of anxiety. I had nightmares, I had flashbacks. It’s been so hard to cope with.”

What else did Paddy McGuinness say on Good Morning Britain?

McGuinness also talked about doing the BBC’s ancestry show Who Do You Think You Are?, which saw him discover a link to Joe Biden. The star explored his Irish roots and found out that some of his ancestors were neighbours with one of the US president’s ancestors.

As he discussed it on Good Morning Britain, the hosts asked his reaction when he was told he was linked to a president, with Adil Ray asking: “Was your heart in your mouth? Which one is it going to be?”

But McGuinness replied: “No, I’d have taken any of them!”

Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams on Tour is streaming on BBC iPlayer.