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South Wales Guardian
27-04-2025
- Automotive
- South Wales Guardian
Jeremy Clarkson calls for return of Top Gear - here's why
Clarkson was host of the BBC motoring show between 2002 and 2015 along with Richard Hammond and James May. The trio eventually left Top Gear and started The Grand Tour on Amazon. Top Gear rested for the "foreseeable future" In 2023, the BBC revealed Top Gear would be rested for the "foreseeable future". In a statement at the time, the broadcaster said: "Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future. "We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.' The decision came after former England cricket captain, and then host of Top Gear, Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was seriously injured in a crash at the show's test track - the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 when it overturned at 40mph, leading to him being airlifted to hospital. The crash left him with severe facial scarring and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the 47-year-old revealed in a recent Disney+ documentary. Following the recent release of the documentary series 'Flintoff' on Disney+, in which the former cricketer talks in detail for the first time about his accident, Clarkson has had his say about the future of Top Gear. The former host, speaking to The Times, said: "It would be sad if it never came back, that would be very sad. "There's room for a car programme at the moment because cars are changing so fast and electrical cars are coming along and nobody really understands what's a good one and what isn't." Jeremy Clarkson has said electric cars mean Top Gear is needed now more than ever, despite the BBC confirming that it had no plans for the TV show to return Hammond has also called for Top Gear's return to TV and said he remained optimistic it would be back "at some point in the future". He said: "I remember watching [Top Gear] as a kid when it was, you know, telling you about what cars, it was a magazine format telling you about the latest cars. "It's becoming a more important subject because it's tied up with all of our futures. "As consumers, the choices we make around automotives are of greater significance than ever before, we need to understand them. RECOMMENDED READING: James May speaks out after Top Gear rested for 'foreseeable future' by BBC What happened to Freddie Flintoff in near death Top Gear accident? Did the BBC end Top Gear because of Freddie Flintoff's crash? Paddy McGuinness reveals details of his own 'brain rattling' crash on Top Gear "We need to understand the difference between a full battery electric vehicle, a hybrid, an internal combustion engine running on fossil fuel, an internal combustion engine running on fully synthetic fuel which can be manufactured, or running on hydrogen. "All of these options are going to be available to us … So any programme that can tell us about that is going to become more important rather than less." What do you think - should Top Gear return to TV? Let us know in our poll above or the comments below.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Jeremy Clarkson calls for Top Gear return despite Freddie Flintoff crash
Jeremy Clarkson has called for Top Gear to return to television, saying "it would be sad if it never came back". Clarkson was host of the BBC motoring show between 2002 and 2015 along with Richard Hammond and James May. The trio eventually left Top Gear and started The Grand Tour on Amazon. Top Gear rested for the "foreseeable future" In 2023, the BBC revealed Top Gear would be rested for the "foreseeable future". In a statement at the time, the broadcaster said: "Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future. "We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.' The decision came after former England cricket captain, and then host of Top Gear, Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was seriously injured in a crash at the show's test track - the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 when it overturned at 40mph, leading to him being airlifted to hospital. The crash left him with severe facial scarring and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the 47-year-old revealed in a recent Disney+ documentary. Following the recent release of the documentary series 'Flintoff' on Disney+, in which the former cricketer talks in detail for the first time about his accident, Clarkson has had his say about the future of Top Gear. The former host, speaking to The Times, said: "It would be sad if it never came back, that would be very sad. "There's room for a car programme at the moment because cars are changing so fast and electrical cars are coming along and nobody really understands what's a good one and what isn't." Jeremy Clarkson has said electric cars mean Top Gear is needed now more than ever, despite the BBC confirming that it had no plans for the TV show to return — The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) April 25, 2025 Hammond has also called for Top Gear's return to TV and said he remained optimistic it would be back "at some point in the future". He said: "I remember watching [Top Gear] as a kid when it was, you know, telling you about what cars, it was a magazine format telling you about the latest cars. "It's becoming a more important subject because it's tied up with all of our futures. "As consumers, the choices we make around automotives are of greater significance than ever before, we need to understand them. RECOMMENDED READING: James May speaks out after Top Gear rested for 'foreseeable future' by BBC What happened to Freddie Flintoff in near death Top Gear accident? Did the BBC end Top Gear because of Freddie Flintoff's crash? Paddy McGuinness reveals details of his own 'brain rattling' crash on Top Gear "We need to understand the difference between a full battery electric vehicle, a hybrid, an internal combustion engine running on fossil fuel, an internal combustion engine running on fully synthetic fuel which can be manufactured, or running on hydrogen. "All of these options are going to be available to us … So any programme that can tell us about that is going to become more important rather than less." What do you think - should Top Gear return to TV? Let us know in our poll above or the comments below.
News.com.au
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Freddie Flintoff reveals horror photos from Top Gear crash for the first time
WARNING: Graphic The full extent of the injuries Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff suffered in his Top Gear crash are laid bare for the first time in his new Disney+ documentary. The show, which dropped on Saturday, includes graphic images of the lacerations he suffered to his nose, cheek, lips and chin when he was dragged, face down, for around 50 metres along the tarmac of Dunsfold Aerodrome in 2022. Photos apparently taken after he was removed from the Surrey track by air ambulance to St George's Hospital are likely to shock viewers, The Sun reports. They reveal for the first time the physical impact of the crash which happened when the three-wheeled Morgan supercar overturned and trapped Freddie, 47, underneath the vehicle. As well as the large cut, which required surgeons to carry out a skin graft, his front teeth were smashed to pieces by the impact and had to be replaced. Since the accident he has had to have multiple operations and have his face 'soldered' together with plasma as well as painful steroid injections straight into his scars. Talking in the documentary he says: 'But it'll never give me what I had back. 'I wasn't happy with it then but now I realise it wasn't too bad, was it? 'You just want people to be honest half the time — to say yeah, it is a f***ing mess, isn't it?' He added: 'I have moments where I forget, I'm just living, and it's so nice. 'And then you just get a stark reminder, I get a feeling on my face because it's all tight and it's different, I've got no teeth, or something will fall out of my mouth when I'm eating. 'Or I just look in the mirror and it all comes back. 'You say your face is your identity, but how many times do we hear, like, people say it's what's inside that counts, it's not how you look … b******s! You know what I mean?' Freddie revealed how he had the choice to turn his head away from the tarmac as the car overturned to prevent him from breaking his neck, but that meant his only other option was to go 'face down' as the vehicle continued to slide across the track. Flintoff, a key member of England's 2005 Ashes-winning side against Australia, admitted he feared he had been damaged beyond repair by the crash. 'After the accident I didn't think I had it in me to get through. This sounds awful, part of me wishes I'd been killed. Part of me thinks, I wish I'd died,' he said. 'I didn't want to kill myself. I wouldn't mistake the two things. I was not wishing, I was just thinking, 'this would have been so much easier'.' Flintoff was driving a Morgan Super 3 three-wheeled sports car when it overturned. The open-topped car is capable of hitting 209 km/h and the cricketer wasn't wearing a helmet when it flipped over. Flintoff's surgeon Jahrad Haq describes the former England captain's injuries as among the five worst he has come across in 20 years and likened the reconstruction process to a jigsaw with missing pieces.
Daily Mirror
26-04-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Jeremy Clarkson hits out at 'sad' BBC decision over Top Gear's future
Top Gear was put on ice in 2023 after Freddie Flintoff's 2022 accident, and former host Jeremy Clarkson is urging the BBC to finally listen to his opinion on getting it back on screen Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has made a surprising statement about the future of the show. The BBC chose not to renew his contract in 2015 after unaired footage of Jeremy emerged - including racist comments - and his co-stars James May and Richard Hammond decided to resign rather than go on without him. The trio moved on to host The Grand Tour with Amazon Prime Video, and after many guest presenters were eventually replaced by Chris Harris, Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness. Top Gear seemingly came to an end in 2023 following an investigation into the 2022 accident that injured Freddie, but left things open-ended. At the time, the cricketer was in a Morgan Super 3 car with no roof, which flipped and caused him life-changing injuries. The BBC hasn't given any further concrete update about whether or not it will reboot Top Gear after the crisis, but Jeremy, 65 - despite his bad blood with the broadcaster - has urged them to bring it back. 'It would be sad if it never came back, that would be very sad,' he told The Times. 'There's room for a car programme at the moment because cars are changing so fast and electrical cars are coming along and nobody really understands what's a good one and what isn't.' However, he made it clear that even if the beloved show came back he had no plans to be at the helm. 'I just don't understand or like electrical cars, so I wouldn't be interested in doing it,' Jeremy quipped. Richard agreed with Jeremy, sharing in a separate statement that he used to watch the original format of Top Gear back when he was a kid, which focused more on informing consumers than showing off crazy stunts. The presenter said that with the rise of alternative and climate-friendly cars, Top Gear was more important than ever. 'All of these options are going to be available to us … So any programme that can tell us about that is going to become more important rather than less,' he said. The BBC has left Top Gear in TV purgatory, and hasn't said whether the show is over for good despite stopping all filming back in 2023. At the time, it said that it would 'continue to support' Freddie 'with his recovery'. The broadcaster added: 'Under the circumstances, we feel it would be inappropriate to resume making series 34 of Top Gear at this time. We understand this will be disappointing for fans, but it is the right thing to do, and we'll make a judgment about how best to continue later this year. 'This has also impacted the production team, who we continue to support. Finally there will be a health and safety review of the show, in line with our procedures.' Even at the time, Jeremy suggested that while he felt for Freddie he still wanted execs to reboot Top Gear. "I can quite understand why he would choose to do something else in future,' he said. "I do hope, however, that my old mates who run the show can find a way of saving it.'
Extra.ie
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Paddy McGuinness breaks silence after Freddie Flintoff documentary revelations
Paddy Mcguinness has spoken out after revelations indicating he hasn't seen Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff since his horror accident, and reports that he was furious the BBC gave his Top Gear co-star a pay out afterwards. Former cricketer Flintoff is the subject of a new documentary on Disney+ which details the aftermath of his accident while shooting the hit BBC motoring show. In the documentary, he reveals that he hasn't spoken to his former co-host since the accident, and now Paddy is speaking out about Freddie, saying it was a 'privilege' to have worked with him and that trying to get everyone back in a room together is like 'lightning in a bottle'. Freddie Flintoff in the new Disney+ documentary. Pic: Disney+ Speaking to the Mirror, McGuinness said: 'I love Fred. He's a good lad. The mad thing about me getting on with him so well is that I know absolutely zero about cricket. I've never watched it, never been into it and never played it. I knew of Freddie and Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan… the famous names. 'Me, Fred and Chris [Harris] everyday we worked together we just laughed. It was such a lovely experience. It was one of those jobs for me, as someone who wasn't well travelled to visit the places we did in Top Gear and go off the beaten track. 'It was only when I reflect on the things we did that I think what a privilege it is to have done that job. Freddie and I still message. But everyone's got busy lives. It's like with every show I do, you work with people and you keep in touch but no one lives near everyone. It's like lightning in a bottle getting everyone together.' Paddy McGuinness. Pic:for Paramount Pictures UK In a report published on the MailOnline, Paddy was supposedly disappointed not to receive compensation of his own as the shut-down of Top Gear essentially made him redundant. Flintoff is said to have received £9million from the BBC after the crash, with him criticising the British National Broadcaster for treating him 'like a piece of meat' on the show in order to attract more viewers. The accident saw the presenter driving a Morgan Super 3, three-wheeled sports car, which flipped and dragged him across the tarmac, leading to serious injuries. Freddie Flintoff in the new Disney+ documentary. Pic: Disney+ A source told MailOnline about Paddy's bewilderment: '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. 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.' Freddie Flintoff, Paddy Mcguinness and Chris Harris in 2018. Pic: Ashley Knotek/REX/Shutterstock It wasn't the last we'd see of McGuinness on the BBC though, as he and Chris Harris would get their own spin-off show depicting the pair on a series of road trips, simply called Road Tripping. Speaking of Chris, he and Freddie have met up, with Flintoff saying that they both got a little upset being together again, with the former cricketer admitting he was worried seeing Harris would bring back painful memories. Freddie Flintoff in the new Disney+ documentary. Pic: Disney+ He said: '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].'
