Published 17:06 7 Sep 2024 GMT+1
Former Top Gear host reveals he feared show 'wouldn't end well' after Freddie Flintoff was announced new presenter
Rory Reid joined Top Gear in 2016 and left the main show in 2019
Anish Vij
Ex Top Gear host Rory Reid has said that he feared the show 'wouldn't end well' after Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness were announced as replacements.
The TV presenter, 44, was a part of the new Top Gear lineup in 2016 alongside Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc.
They replaced the longstanding trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.
Freddie Flintoff Top Gear 'death waiver'
Credit: BBC
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Reid was taken very well by viewers who appeared to rate his knowledge of cars.
However, the journalist from South London moved to spin-off show Extra Gear to make way for McGuinness and Flintoff in 2019.
Speaking to Times Radio, Reid was asked if putting sports and TV stars in the driving seat 'could be a problem'?
This comes after the cricketer's accident on Top Gear in December 2022, which left him with facial injuries, broken ribs, and ongoing psychological effects.
And there's also McGuinness, who was driving in an old Lamborghini when he 'hit a wall at 80mph' in 2020. He suffered from major anxiety after the incident.
Chris Harris, Matt LeBlanc and Rory Reid became Top Gear presenters in 2016 (John Rogers/BBC via Getty Images)Answering the initial question, Reid replied: "Absolutely instantly, it was the first thing I thought other than this is an exciting development for the show and I'm interested to see how this turns out.
"The first thing I thought was these men, who I've been lucky enough to watch on their entertainment journeys and sports journeys, who are fabulous at what they do, I don't think they have the driving experience to the level where they would be able to do some of the things the BBC asked me to do.
"Let's put it that way, whether the BBC gave them the added tuition and time, and looked after them enough to be able to put them into those situations, where they would feel comfortable and safe, that's not for me to say because I wasn't there.
"But based on my experience, if you asked me whether putting someone without that level of driving experience in those situations and whether it would end well?
"I didn't think it was going to end well.
"That was my first ever thought having heard about who would be on the show."
Flintoff with visual face scars after the incident on Top Gear (Philip Brown/Getty Images)On health and safety, a BBC spokesperson said: "The independent health and safety production review of Top Gear, which looked at previous seasons, found that while BBC Studios had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practice in making the show, there were important learnings which would need to be rigorously applied to future Top Gear UK productions."
"The report included a number of recommendations to improve approaches to safety as Top Gear is a complex programme-making environment routinely navigating tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations challenges often experienced by long-running shows with an established on and off-screen team.
"Learnings included a detailed action plan involving changes in the ways of working, such as increased clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for any future Top Gear production."Featured Image Credit: Gareth Copley/Getty Images/ITV
Topics: Top Gear, Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness
Published 20:23 6 Sep 2024 GMT+1
Top Gear presenter Chris Harris gave morbid warning to BBC three months before horror Freddie Flintoff crash
Chris Harris said he gave the BBC a warning before Freddie Flintoff's horror crash on Top Gear
Anish Vij
Top Gear presenter Chris Harris has claimed he gave a morbid warning to the BBC three months before Freddie Flintoff's horror crash.
While filming for Top Gear in December 2022, the TV presenter and retired cricketer was involved in a brutal car accident at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, leaving him with facial injuries, broken ribs, and ongoing psychological effects.
Adnan talking to Freddie Flintoff about being smuggled into the UK.
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It wasn't until September 2023 until Flintoff, 46, was spotted out in public for the first time at a cricket game with visible scars and facial injuries.
The following month, he reached a financial settlement with the BBC, which according to reports was worth £9 million. The payout did not use BBC Licence Fee income to operate.
Only last month, in the first episode of the second series of Flintoff's documentary Field of Dreams on Tour, Flintoff shared details of the incident for the first time.
And now, his Top Gear co-host Harris, 49, has broken his silence following the horror crash.
n an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the car enthusiast claims he warned the BBC of health and safety prior to the accident.
Freddie Flintoff's crash left him with broken ribs and facial scarring (BBC)"Three months before the accident, l'd gone to the BBC and said 'unless you change something, someone's going to die on this show'," Harris said.
"So I went to them. I went to the BBC and I told them of my concerns from what l'd seen. As the most experienced driver on the show, by a mile, I said 'if we carry on, at the very least, we're going to have a serious injury. At the very worst, we're going to have a fatality'."
On Flintoff allegedly not even wearing a crash helmet during on the day of the incident, Harris added: "He wasn't wearing a crash helmet. And if you do that, even at 25, 30 miles an hour, the injuries that you sustain are profound.
"I was there on the day, I was the only presenter with Fred that day. I remember the radio message that I heard. I heard someone say this has been a real accident here. The car's upside down.
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"So I ran to the window, looked out and he wasn't moving. So I thought he was dead. I assumed he was, then he moved."
He continued: "So that day was very difficult, made even more difficult by the fact that the build-up to that particular shoot, I knew that we were - at the last minute - that we were using a Morgan three-wheeler.
"The name tells you its physics is complicated. It doesn't mean it's inherently dangerous. You have to be aware of its limitations. And I think that really was difficult. And you need experience."
LADbible has contacted the BBC for comment.Featured Image Credit: YouTube/The Joe Rogan Experience / BBC
Topics: Top Gear, Freddie Flintoff, Celebrity
A
nish Vij
Updated 09:08 7 Oct 2023 GMT+1Published 21:51 6 Oct 2023 GMT+1
Top Gear 'axed' following Freddie Flintoff crash
Top Gear is said to have been axed after nearly 50 years on air in the wake of Freddie Flintoff's near-fatal crash last year
Niamh Shackleton
Top Gear has reportedly been axed after 46 years on air.
The future of the show has been hanging in the balance in recent months in light of Freddie Flintoff's car accident that left the ex-cricketer with serious injuries.
Former Top Gear host hits out at show
Credit: GB News
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Flintoff was driving at 130mph at the time of the horror smash in December 2022, where his vehicle flipped over at the Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey while filming a segment for the show.
He hosted the popular BBC programme alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris.
An insider has claimed that it was 'tough decision' to make, but felt like they couldn't continue after Flintoff's accident.
"Top Gear has been an institution on British telly but the feeling is there is no way it can continue after Freddie’s crash," they told The Sun.
Visionhaus/Getty Images“The BBC are aware they very nearly lost a presenter’s life while filming a segment, and there’s a feeling it would be in bad taste to continue making such dangerous material.
“It’s a tough decision but they know deep down it’s the right one as hardcore fans of the show won’t want to see a lightweight version.”
LADbible has contacted BBC for comment.
In light of Flintoff's accident, Top Gear has been under fire for hiring presenters that aren't professional drivers.
Former host Steve Berry - who was on the show between 1993 and 1999 as their main man for motorbikes - hit out at Top Gear in its most recent form and said things were better back in the days when he was part of the team that made it.
Instagram/@topgeartv/BBCHe told GB News: "The difference back when I did it was they used to appoint motoring journalists.
"I was completely aware of the dangers that could often occur. I was under no illusion."
Berry continued: "The problem for me with the modern Top Gear is you’re asking a cricketer to do things that really should be done by people who know what they’re doing. But it’s the viewer that’s the problem."
At one stage it was rumoured that Top Gear might have proceeded without its famous stunts (or would have altered the way they do them), but some argued that would take away the main point of the show.
An unnamed ex Top Gear producer previously told the Mail Online: "The reason Top Gear is a hit is the crashes. That's the thing. It's not a show about buying new cars, it's about stunts and jeopardy and presenters doing daft s**t.
"You take the stunts away from the presenters and get a load of stunt drivers to do them and what is the point?"Featured Image Credit: BBC/Visionhaus/Getty Images
Topics: TV and Film, Top Gear, Freddie Flintoff
Niamh Shackleton
Updated 17:54 22 Sep 2023 GMT+1Published 17:42 22 Sep 2023 GMT+1
Former Top Gear Stig makes suggestion to BBC after horror Freddie Flintoff crash
The original Stig has some ideas for Top Gear
Joe Harker
A former Stig on Top Gear has made a suggestion about the show's future after Freddie Flintoff's horrific crash.
Cricket star Flintoff was badly injured in an accident at the show's racing track in Dunsfold, Surrey and was only recently seen out in public again.
The crash has since thrown the future of the show into doubt after filming on Top Gear was halted and it's not yet known whether it'll return to our screens or not.
A health and safety review into Top Gear is currently being undertaken by the BBC as the decision on what to do about the popular programme is yet to be announced.
Several former figures from the show have spoken out about the possible futures that lie ahead for Top Gear, and now Perry McCarthy, the very first Stig, has given his views on what could be done.
Visionhaus/Getty ImagesMcCarthy was Stig number one, who wore a black helmet and racing overalls before leaving Top Gear with the show pretending he'd drowned after driving off the side of an aircraft carrier.
Speaking to GB News, McCarthy suggested that the show needed 'better procedures' in place due to the stunts the presenters sometimes had to go through.
He said: "So not to lose the thrill of good presenters on there - sure, you can have them go fast, but it would appear to me as if they're going to need better procedures there.
"Maybe from somebody from my background, even working with presenters to just say, 'Look guys, this is the wrong time, a wrong place to go quickly,' because something's happened in that accident.
"We've not been told about it, but judging by Freddie's injuries, it appears to me that the car has maybe gone upside down. And then it's a question of what kind of crash helmet was he using. Because I would never advocate going out with a half-face crash on it. It would always be a full-face crash helmet.
“I think it was a crash helmet situation with Freddie and sadly that is something I personally would have spotted from the outside."
BBCFlintoff's injury is the latest in a line of incidents which have happened on the show when things have gone wrong.
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson sustained injuries and said he'd been left in 'agony' after a stunt where he drove a lorry through a brick wall.
James May was hospitalised during a special episode of Top Gear set in the Middle East after falling and hitting his head in the desert.
And perhaps the most notorious accident on the show prior to Flintoff's was Richard Hammond's horror crash after a tyre on a jet-propelled car he was driving failed and he was rushed to hospital where he spent several weeks recovering.
LADbible have contacted the BBC for comment.Featured Image Credit: BBC / Visionhaus/Getty Images
Topics: Top Gear, BBC, TV and Film, Freddie Flintoff, Celebrity
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Published 08:25 13 Oct 2023 GMT+1
Freddie Flintoff 'to make TV comeback' following horror Top Gear crash
Whether or not Top Gear returns Freddie Flintoff is set to be back on TV
Joe Harker
Freddie Flintoff has been tipped to make his TV comeback following his horrific crash on Top Gear which brought the show's production to a halt.
The former England cricketer has since been spotted in public though the future of Top Gear is exceedingly uncertain.
Freddie Flintoff speaks for first time since crash
Credit: X/England Cricket
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There had been claims that the BBC would be wrapping things up as far as Top Gear was concerned, though the broadcaster has claimed that a decision has not yet been made.
They said: "A decision on the timing of future Top Gear shows will be made in due course with BBC Content."
With so much uncertainty over Top Gear, it might be nice for fans of Flintoff to know that they will see him make a comeback on telly.
Visionhaus/Getty ImagesHe's set to return for a second series of Field of Dreams, the show which sees Flintoff scouring his native Preston for signs up potential cricket talent.
However, according to The Sun even if he doesn't continue with Top Gear, he could attempt to bring back renovation show Chasing Cars.
It's described as 'The Repair Show meets Top Gear' and Flintoff does love his cars, so it could be a way for him to carry on working with them on TV in a slightly less dangerous environment than he previously was.
They also report that Flintoff is in 'in discussions with producers about other projects' so we've by no means seen the last of him on our screens.
Sadly for those hoping this is going to be the green light for a Top Gear comeback, Flintoff may not want to return to the show.
BBCIn his first public speech since last year's accident, people were impressed by Flintoff's words of support while presenting Tom Hartley with an international cap.
In his speech he said: "It gives me so much pleasure to share what's going to be a day Tom that you're going to remember for the rest of your life.
"When you get this cap, this changes your life. It's one of those things, it's before and after it.
“This enables you to walk tall and move faster. Play with passion, play with pride, play with belief. And also part of a family of people.
"They'll share the good times with you, share the successes. But as I found over the past few months, they'll be there for you in the hardest times of your life.
"They will stand next to you. So, like the lion on the cap Tom, be brave, be, fearless, be proud and enjoy every minute."
LADbible has contacted Flintoff's representatives for comment.
