EXCLUSIVE Paddy McGuinness believes he should have received a pay out from the BBC when Top Gear was canned following his co-star Freddie Flintoff's terrifying crash

Daily Mail​

24-04-2025

Paddy McGuinness believed he should have received a pay out from the BBC when Top Gear was canned following his co-star Freddie Flintoff's terrifying crash, MailOnline can reveal.
The television presenter, who joined the show in 2019, complained to friends that he believed that like Flintoff – who was seriously injured from the incident – he should have been given cash because the programme was canned and he lost an income.
Paddy, 51, spent three years working alongside Freddie and Chris Harris when in 2022 the former England cricket star was left with horrific injuries after the open-top car he was testing flipped over and slipped along the track at the Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey.
The vehicle had no airbags and the crash left Freddie with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs. The BBC decided to axe the show and Freddie reportedly got a seven-figure pay out.
One source familiar with the former Take Me Out host Paddy's bewilderment told MailOnline: 'Paddy was moaning because he had lost his job, the show went so really it was a case of him being made redundant.
'It was a big income for him and suddenly it was gone after Freddie's accident.
The television presenter, who joined the show in 2019, complained to friends that he believed that like Flintoff – who was seriously injured from the incident – he should have been given cash because the programme was canned and he lost an income
'He couldn't understand why he didn't get a pay out, I guess you can see his point. Freddie did get one but he was so badly injured.
'His life changed, he didn't leave the house for months and months and while it was sad for Paddy that his job had gone, he did go on to find other work,;
BBC insiders have speculated that Paddy's upset at not getting a pay out may have been the reason why the Corporation created a new show, Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping alongside Chris Harris.
'The talk at the Beeb is that was done to appease him,' said one.
During this Disney+ documentary called Flintoff, which takes an intimate and unprecedented look into his life, Freddie revealed that he has barely spoken to Paddy since the crash – saying it is 'triggering.'
He said: 'We've been in contact,' he said. 'When I saw Chris we hugged each other, he got upset and I got a little bit upset.
'I feel bad I haven't been more in contact with him and Paddy. I think there were some comments that I've not spoken with Paddy for a while and part of it is for myself a little bit.
'I hate the word triggering... but I'm worried about that. It's also something that has stopped because of what's happened to me. Their careers have been halted as well.
'So I feel bad for them and also it's like what happened gets dragged up enough in my own head without adding to that (by seeing them).'
Paddy, who last year divorced from wife Christine, was handed the role at Top Gear with thanks to some help from a long-term cheer leader of his, Sumi Cannock, who he worked with at ITV.
She landed at job as the creative director of BBC Studios, the organisation's commercial arm and shortly afterwards poached Paddy and gave him Top Gear as well as Question of Sport.
Sumi is also understood to have been behind Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping.
A representative for Paddy has been contacted.
It comes after Freddie revealed the first image of the Top Gear crash that almost killed him - ahead of the release of a new documentary looking back at his life.
The cricketing superstar turned television presenter, 47, was left with horrific injuries after the car he was testing on the BBC motoring show flipped over at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey over two years ago.
Freddie retreated from public life for months as he recovered from severe facial injuries and broken ribs - but until now, footage of the crash that almost claimed his life has never surfaced.
But a trailer for Flintoff, Disney+'s new unprecedented documentary on the star has been released this morning - and gives viewers a glimpse of the horrifying scene.
Flintoff was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned and crashed off of the Top Gear test track on December 13 2022 during filming .
The car is an open-topped motor capable of hitting 130mph - and the cricketer wasn't wearing a helmet when the car flipped over.
Despite the car being equipped with roll bars designed to protect occupants in the event of turning over, Flintoff suffered egregious facial injuries. He still bears the scars to this day.
'I remember everything about it,' Freddie says in a voiceover in the trailer, adding: 'It's so vivid.'
As he speaks, the video cuts to a still image of TV crews in high-visibility jackets gathered around the blue Morgan sports car.
Flintoff says in the trailer that he wanted to film the documentary in order to give his side of the story after spending months out of the public eye, prompting concerns about his welfare.
'I've lived under radar for seven months,' Freddie says in the video. 'One of the real frustrations was the speculation, that's why I'm doing this now. What actually happened.'
Following the terrifying ordeal, Flintoff quit Top Gear and reportedly received a £9million settlement from the BBC of the crash, paid for by the broadcaster's commercial arm.
Freddie opens up about his injuries in the trailer and says, 'I'm not saying embracing them, but I'm not trying to hide my scars.'
He goes on, 'It's almost like a reset, I'm trying to find out what I am now. I've always seemed to be able to flick a switch, I've got to find that switch again.'
Alongside motoring journalist Chris Harris and comedian Paddy, Flintoff had fronted Top Gear since 2019, guiding the show back to success following a period of turmoil after its star presenters were sacked and quit in 2015.
The trio had been praised for improving the quality of the show after a tumultuous period that came with the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, sacked for punching a producer, and his co-stars James May and Richard Hammond.
However, co-star Chris Harris had previously raised concerns over the safety of some of the stunts on the show, which had gradually moved away from providing consumer advice on cars in favour of motoring-based entertainment.
Speaking to podcaster Joe Rogan, Harris said he had warned the BBC three months before the accident that there could be a 'serious injury' or 'fatality'.
He said: 'What was never spoken about was that three months before the accident, I'd gone to the BBC and said, 'Unless you change something, someone's going to die on this show'.
'So I went to them, I went to the BBC and I told them of my concerns from what I'd seen - as the most experienced driver on the show by a mile.'
While McGuinness and Flintoff were 'brilliant entertainers', he said they 'didn't have the experience I had in cars'.