Freddie Flintoff has opened up for the first time about the toll of his near–fatal car crash while filming Top Gear two years ago.
In his new docuseries Field of Dreams on Tour, the presenter candidly spoke about his recovery, admitting it had been “a lot harder” than he thought.
Flintoff was hospitalised in 2022 following a crash while filming Top Gear. Not long after, the BBC announced the show was on an indefinite hiatus.
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Now, nearly two years on, Flintoff has returned to the BBC for his new show, which airs on Tuesday August 13 and takes the star and his cricket team to India.
The first episode of the docuseries shows the former England cricket captain not long after the accident, which left him with facial injuries requiring multiple surgeries.
“I genuinely should not be here with what happened,” Flintoff says at one point, adding he needed “to stop crying every two minutes.”
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“I thought I could shake it off, I wanted to shake it off and say, ‘Here I am, I’m alright,’ but it’s not been the case of that, it’s a lot harder than I thought,” he got candid.
“As much as I’ve wanted to go out and do things, I’ve just not been able to.”
Later in the show, the star opened up his mental health struggle after the horrific crash.
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“I struggle with anxiety. I have nightmares, I have flashbacks. It’s been so hard to cope with,” he shared, adding he didn’t want to feel sorry for himself.
In December 2022, Flintoff was taken to hospital after crashing on the set of Top Gear and sustaining severe facial injuries and broken ribs.
Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 when it flipped over while driving.
The Sun later reported the star had agreed to an eight-figure settlement with the BBC.
In November 2023, the BBC announced Top Gear, which Flintoff joined as a presenter in 2019, would be put on an extended hiatus for the “foreseeable future”.
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