• The experienced automotive journalist says his job was left in limbo after Andrew Flintoff’s crash in December 2022.
  • The former cricket player wasn’t wearing a helmet when he rolled a Morgan.
  • Harris says Top Gear was in an arm’s race with The Grand Tour to do increasingly stupid stunts.

In November last year, the BBC canceled Top Gear after presenter Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was seriously injured while driving a Morgan Super 3. For the most part, the network has provided few details about the accident, nor the reason to drop the show. Now, we get some more information after Chris Harris appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.

Flintoff’s crash happened in late 2022 during filming with Morgan’s famous three-wheeler. He managed to flip the car and, unfortunately, wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time. Harris was on set at the time and initially thought Freddie had been killed until he saw him moving. Had he not been as physically fit as he was, Harris believes his co-host would have snapped his neck in the crash and been killed.

Read: UK Top Gear Show Dropped For ‘Foreseeable Future,’ What Should Replace It?

Harris is particularly haunted by the events leading up to the crash. Ordinarily, Flintoff would ask him what it was like to drive a particular car before getting behind the wheel, but on that day, because of the call times, he didn’t have the opportunity to speak with the veteran automotive journalist about the Morgan 3 Wheeler. Harris says that because the vehicle has only three wheels, driving it properly requires some practice and skill.

During his lengthy interview with Rogan (which is worth watching in its entirety, by the way), Harris adds he thought a terrible accident during filming was inevitable. Three months before Flintoff’s crash, he spoke with the BBC and expressed concerns that if the show continued as it was with more and more bold stunts, someone was going to be seriously injured or killed.  He says Top Gear was in a bit of an arm’s race with The Grand Tour to do increasingly stupid things.

Sadly, the BBC didn’t listen to him, and they tried to shut down his concerns. Flintoff suffered extensive facial injuries in the crash and multiple broken ribs, although the full extent of his injuries hasn’t been revealed.