Freddie Flintoff has opened up about his life-altering car crash in his new Disney Plus documentary, Flintoff.
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The sportsman had previously detailed how the crash affected his emotional state as well as physical in the second season of Field of Dreams, but is now explaining the true depth of the aftermath.
Following the crash, the BBC announced the motoring programme will not be returning "for the foreseeable future".
"I remember everything about it," Flintoff said in the documentary. "In some ways, it'd be easier if I'd gone unconscious and then been unconscious for a week or two."
But what exactly happened to Flintoff while filming the BBC motoring show? Read on for everything you need to know.
What happened to Freddie Flintoff? Top Gear crash explained
Flintoff was involved in a crash at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, home of the Top Gear test track, on 13th December 2022.
Recalling the crash in his own words, Flintoff said: "It was a three wheeler. There's a reinforced windscreen and a bar, which was about half of my back, so I'm exposed. [I was] probably doing about a 40 or 45. They were showing me how to get the car going sideways, and the wheel came up at the front.
"It's a funny thing rolling a car, because there's a point of no return and everything slows down... If you play cricket, with the bat you get point-four seconds to make your mind where the ball is going and what shot you're going to play. Are you going to move your feet?
"And as it started going over, I looked to the ground and I'd either get hit on the side and I break my neck. And the best chance is [to] go face down."
Flintoff was airlifted to hospital and his injuries were described at the time as being non-life threatening, but his son Corey told the Mail Online he was lucky to be alive.
"It was a pretty nasty crash," he said at the time. "It is shocking. We are all shocked but just hope he’s going to be OK."
Freddie Flintoff. Visionhaus / Getty Images.
In a statement shared in April, the BBC said that "under the circumstances" it "would be inappropriate to resume making season 34" following an internal investigation into the incident.
In October, it was confirmed that Flintoff had reached a settlement with the BBC, which The Sun reported was worth £9m, based on the presenter losing out on two years of earnings.
"BBC Studios has reached an agreement with Freddie that we believe supports his continued rehabilitation, return to work and future plans," a spokesperson said.
"We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery."
The payout is not be funded by the TV licence fee, since BBC Studios is a commercial arm of the broadcaster.
Another update was provided in November 2023, when the BBC said it had decided to take Top Gear off air "for the foreseeable future".
The BBC said in a statement: "[We] remain 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.
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
