The BBC has announced that it has suspended the filming of Top Gear. It follows a serious accident involving presenter Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff back in December, which left the former cricketing star needing medical attention.
In a statement, the BBC said: “We have sincerely apologized to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery.” The broadcaster went on to say that, while the halting of filming may be a disappointment for fans, it was the right thing to do.
Several outlets have reported that Flintoff is set to quit the show over the incident. A source quoted by The Times said, “Freddie has been seriously emotionally and physically affected by the crash.” They went on to say that “He is a daredevil, that’s what he does, and he doesn’t feel like he is able to continue to play that role on the show.”
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It’s the latest in a series of blows for the BBC’s motoring show. The first incident that garnered headlines for the show was the 2006 near-death crash of then-presenter Richard Hammond after he lost control of a jet-powered car at 200 mph. It’s not the first incident involving Flintoff either. Prior to his on-air debut, the cricketing all-rounder was involved in a minor shunt behind the wheel of a Subaru Brat and flipped and rolled a rally car. In 2019 he was in a shunt behind the handlebars of a 3-wheeled trike. There he walked away unharmed after running out of runway at 124 mph (200 km/h).
The latest crash, which happened during filming for the 34th series of the program, is rumored to have involved a Morgan three-wheeler. Flintoff was alleged to have broken ribs and sustained severe facial injuries when the trike overturned at the Top Gear test track. At the time, the BBC stated that the accident did not occur at high speed, while all health and safety precautions were reported to have been in place.
There will now be a third-party safety review of the show, although the UK’s health and safety regulator, HSE, announced that it would not examine the incident further as the circumstances did not meet the threshold for a more detailed investigation.
Photos Newspress